By Ian Ransom
SANTA CLARA, California, June 29 (Reuters) – A shooting in San Jose, California, that killed one person and injured another late on Sunday adjacent to a site used for World Cup watch parties was not related to the tournament, the city’s Mayor Matt Mahan said in a statement.
There were no World Cup games being screened at the San Pedro Square fan zone at the time of the shooting which police responded to around 9:12 p.m. local time.
“This shooting happened near an area where families and fans have been gathering for our World Cup watch parties, and that makes the brazenness of this crime even more unacceptable,” Mahan said in a statement on Monday.
“I am grateful that Sunday’s programming had ended hours earlier, and there is no indication this violence was connected to the event.
“San Jose has safely welcomed hundreds of thousands of people downtown, and we are not going to let one criminal act scare our community away from public spaces that belong to them.”
Police said on Monday they responded to a report of the shooting in the area of North Market Street and West Santa Clara Street, in San Jose, and were investigating the incident as a homicide.
The fan-zone was evacuated by police and security staff, and police cordoned off the square.
A witness at the scene of the shooting told Reuters on Sunday that one of the victims was attended by medics outside a bar in the square, metres from where fans have gathered to watch World Cup games.
San Jose Police Department said in a statement they located an unconscious adult male victim lying on the sidewalk suffering from at least one gunshot wound.
“Officers immediately began life-saving measures and summoned medical personnel to the scene where they ultimately pronounced the victim deceased,” the statement said.
Police located a second adult male shooting victim several yards away.
“Responding medical personnel transported the victim to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries where he has since been stabilised. He remains in critical condition but is expected to survive,” the statement said.
Police said a spokesperson would speak to media at 11 am local time on Monday.
There are several dozen fan zones across the Bay Area.
(Reporting by Ian Ransom; Editing by Ed Osmond)
