After a four-hour standoff in South San Jose, police took an armed man into custody at a shopping center near Branham High School.
At about 1:10 a.m., San Jose police responded to the Meridian Park Plaza shopping center at Branham Lane and Meridian Avenue, where a man was armed with an ax and a knife.
Video from the scene showed a man standing in front of a Beast Fitness store, waving an ax and a large knife. The man later broke the storefront window and barricaded himself inside, according to police.
After negotiating with the man, telling him to drop his weapons and not getting him to comply, officers deployed a flash bang device to flush him out of the store. Earlier, he he had been throwing objects at first responding officers, witnesses said. Officers at one point fired pepper balls at the man.
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At about 5:10 a.m., the unidentified man discarded his weapons and surrendered, police said. He underwent a mental evaluation and was booked on a vandalism charge.
The shopping center at 4650 Meridian Ave. is just across the street from Branham High. The owner of Beast Fitness said the store will remain closed Wednesday and for the foreseeable future.
