Eight men arrested during the city’s first homicide in 2025 – The Mercury News

San Jose – Police arrested eight men for allegedly killed a man in January when they were trying to find and kill rival gang members, authorities announced at a press conference on Friday morning.

On Wednesday, SJPD and several partner agencies arrested the eight suspects for having allegedly fired and killed Wilson Martinez-Vasquez, 27, a resident of San Jose.

At the press conference, the SJPD police chief Paul Joseph said the eight men were aimed at the San Jose district in order to kill rival gang members but that their victim was random.

“A 27 -year -old victim was killed by those people who brought no value to human life and, without hesitation, took his own,” said Joseph. “They later left San Jose as if they had attended a concert or a sporting event, believing that they had covered their pieces. They never thought they would answer for their carefully planned game: the Roulette assassination. ”

Joseph said the men belonged to a small subset of a street gang Norteños, and he added that the gang had been linked to several deaths in the county of Monterey.

“To the inhabitants of San Jose, I want you to know that we have stopped their reign of terror,” said Joseph. “They will not return to San Jose.”

Shortly after 10 p.m. on January 11, the SJPD officers responded to a shooting on the 3100 block from Loma Verde Drive, the authorities announced. When they arrived, they found Martinez-Vasquez with at least one ball injury. The police attempted safeguard measures and the victim was transported to hospital, but he died of his injuries.

In their investigation, the police found that the eight suspects were associated with a gang based in Greenfield, a city in the county of Monterey. They acquired eight arrest terms and fourteen residential search mandates. The investigation was also assisted by automated readers of the license plate and video surveillance, said Joseph.

“San Jose is an ideal place to visit,” said Joseph. “But if you come here and make violence and take a life, we will come to visit you.”

The authorities continue to investigate the murder. Joseph added that they do not know if the victim was affiliated with a gang.

The sheriff of the county of Monterey, Tina Nieto, added that it is common for the gangs to travel and descend from the state.

“Gangs can be geographically in a certain field, but when they commit crimes, they know no borders,” said Nieto. “They go to the places they think they are not going to get caught.”

The arrested men include: Adrian Pineda-Juarez, a 20-year-old resident of Greenfield; David Gomez-Moreno, a 19-year-old resident from Soledad; Andre Novoa, an 18 -year -old resident from Greenfield; Damien Perea, a 19 -year -old resident of Sacramento; Diego Narez, a 19 -year -old resident from King City; Anthony Martinez, a 19 -year -old resident from Soledad; Eduardo Camacho-Hernandez, a 20-year-old resident from Greenfield; And Dario Botallo, a 19 -year -old resident from Elverta.

Police also seized a handgun, a shotgun and two rifles in their research, Joseph said.

Joseph added that the incident is an example of “the increase in violence of young people in our community and beyond”.

“These young people have embraced a world of violence that transformed them into executioners for a cause that will never serve them,” said Joseph. “We cannot allow it to be the future of our young people. We will not leave that it is their inheritance. ”

The mayor of San Jose, Matt Mahan, added that the case highlights the “urgent need that we must respond to the way young lives are affected by gangs and consumed by cycles of violence”.

“As a company, we must do more to intervene earlier, to disrupt these cycles, to find more productive and constructive paths for our young people, but also ensure responsibility when young people make terrible decisions,” he said.

The Arrest Operation was conductive in collaboration with the santa clara country district attortey’s office, the San Jose special operations division, the SJPD Covert Response Unit, The Monterey County District Attorney’s Office, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, The Monterey Centy SheriFF’s Office, The King City Police Department, The Greenfield Police Department, The Salinas Police Department, The Watsonville Police Department, The Monterey Peninsula Special Response Unit, The Sacramento Police Department and the Sacramento County Sheriff, said the authorities.

Joseph added that more than 100 San Jose officers were involved in the arrests.

Pineda-Juarez is in detention in the county of Monterey after being arrested for suspicion of separate homicide at the time of the operation. He will face separate accusations in the county of Santa Clara, the authorities said.

The other men were reserved in the main prison of Santa Clara, suspected of murder, the authorities announced.

The murder marked the first homicide in San Jose in 2025.

Anyone with additional information concerning the incident has been invited to contact the detective sergeant Martinez # 4117 at 4117@sanjoseca.gov or the detective jorgensen # 4090 at 4090@sanjoseca.gov. They can also be reached at 408-277-5283.