The Santa Clara County Sheriff's office has called off the manhunt that started early Saturday morning in the Morgan Hill area.
At 5:30 a.m., deputies responded to calls of a suspicious vehicle in the area of Croy Road and Esther Lake way up in the hills above Morgan Hill, but it took them some time to get to the isolated area, Kurtis Stenderup, a spokesperson for the sheriff's office said.
According to Stenderup, three Santa Clara County Sheriff's cruisers were rammed by the suspect's vehicle when crews arrived at the scene.
At least one deputy fired at least one shot at the suspect, Stenderup said. The suspect fled in his vehicle but crashed down a ravine and took off running. At about the same time, a man wandered up to deputies and was detained because it was unclear whether he was connected to the suspect.
The man turned out to be a nearby resident who witnessed the incident and was not charged.
During the manhunt, authorities said they issued a shelter in place order for residents in the heavily wooded neighborhood, telling them to stay inside and lock their doors.
"Based on information we had at the time, we believed that that suspect was armed and dangerous so what we did was we did a reverse 911 to all the residents in the area advising them to stay in their home, lock their doors, and shelter in place," Sgt. Andrea Urena said.
"I was worried a little bit," neighbor Carlos Lopez said. "That’s not normal, so we just stayed inside and hoped for the best."
The sheriff's office started a manhunt with the help of Gilroy, Morgan Hill, San Jose and Sunnyvale police departments and the California Highway Patrol. The suspect was apprehended about half-a-mile from the original scene, following which the manhunt was called off.
Police said they believe the suspect may have been in the neighborhood scoping out a home to burglarize.
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"I tell you, I don’t know if there was a bad Friday night for this gentleman or what happened the night before, but he was on a rampage out here out of all places," Lopez said.
One deputy was taken to the hospital with head pain and has since been released.
