Police said the victims were found in the 700 block of East Santa Clara Street near South 15th Street.
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Two men were found shot to death late Thursday in San Jose’s Naglee area near downtown, prompting an overnight homicide investigation that closed part of East Santa Clara Street and left officers working through Friday morning.
Police said officers were sent to the 700 block of East Santa Clara Street at 10:11 p.m. after a report of a person shot. When they arrived, they found two adult men with gunshot wounds, and both were pronounced dead at the scene. By Friday, investigators had released few details about the victims, no suspect information and no clear motive, leaving neighbors and commuters with only the outline of what had happened and a crime scene that stretched across a normally busy corridor.
The shooting unfolded on a block near South 15th Street, where officers first shut down East Santa Clara Street between South 14th and South 16th streets. By Friday, the wider closure had been lifted, but police were still keeping part of 15th Street closed as detectives remained in the area. Television crews and police tape marked the scene as investigators moved around a property near the corner and checked the block for evidence. A nearby resident, Kevin Narimatsu, told local television reporters the violence was hard to absorb after years in the neighborhood. “We’ve been here for 10 years,” he said. “It’s the first time we ever had anything so nearby.”
Police have not publicly identified the men, said whether they knew each other, or described how many shots were fired. They also had not said Friday whether a suspect had been identified or whether the case appeared targeted or random. One woman who lives nearby told KTVU that she heard arguing before a car sped away. Other neighbors said they did not hear gunfire and were shocked to wake up to flashing lights and blocked streets. Officers went door to door asking whether residents had heard or seen anything. The location of the shooting also drew attention because the taped-off area was near the Sacramental Native American Church, a familiar landmark on the block.
The deaths add to a year in which San Jose police had already publicly labeled earlier killings as the city’s first, second, third and fourth homicides of 2026 in prior department announcements. Police had not yet posted a matching press release Friday for the East Santa Clara Street case, but the department’s public statements and local reports made clear that homicide detectives were treating the deaths as a double killing. In 2025, SJPD’s published year-end crime statistics listed 24 murders citywide. That broader backdrop gives added weight to shootings that break out in residential areas near downtown, where major streets, homes, apartments and houses of worship sit close together.
The next formal steps are likely to come from two agencies. San Jose police are expected to continue interviewing witnesses, reviewing any nearby camera footage and tracing the events that led to the gunfire. The Santa Clara County Office of the Medical Examiner would typically identify the victims after relatives are notified. Police had not announced any arrest, public briefing or probable cause filing by Friday afternoon. Until investigators say more, central questions remain open: who fired the shots, whether the men were specifically targeted, and what happened in the moments before officers were called at 10:11 p.m.
By daylight, the block carried the uneasy mix common after overnight violence. Residents stepped around patrol cars, peered at taped-off corners and traded fragments of what they had heard. Some said the neighborhood is usually quiet despite its location near downtown traffic. Others paused at the sight of detectives still at work hours after the shooting. The strongest note was uncertainty. People living nearby had a time, a place and the fact that two men were dead, but not the names, not the motive and not a public account of how the confrontation began or ended.
As of Friday, the victims had not been identified, no suspect had been publicly named and the investigation remained active, with police expected to release more information after witness interviews and medical examiner notifications are completed.
Author note: Last updated March 13, 2026.