Officer shoots gun-waving person in Wildwood Park
By Kara Chalmers
Things got wild at Wildwood Park in Saratoga on Sept. 19.
At 11:30 p.m., after receiving a call about a suspicious person who was allegedly waving a pistol and threatening to shoot people, three Santa Clara County Sheriff's deputies and a supervisor arrived at the scene to find Shane Leyden, 23, of San Jose near the restroom and holding what appeared to be a gun, according to Sgt. John Hirokawa, the Sheriff's public information officer.
One of the responding officers, Deputy Pat McGrady, shone his flashlight on Leyden, identified himself as working for the Sheriff's office and yelled out to the other officers that the suspect had a gun, Hirokawa said. McGrady said he ordered Leyden to put the weapon down, but instead, Leyden raised the gun. At that point, McGrady shot Leyden in the hand. The bullet exited Leyden's hand and grazed his chest. Leyden was treated and released from the Santa Clara County Valley Medical Center.
Hirokawa said that Leyden laughed after being shot, and told the officer something to the effect of "Nice shot."
The toxicology report to determine whether Leyden was under the influence of anything will not be available for a few weeks, but the responding deputies think Leyden might have been.
The weapon Leyden possessed is actually either a pellet gun, also known as a BB gun, or a semi-automatic replica handgun, but because it is a silver-chrome color and has a hole in the barrel, it resembles a real gun, Hirokawa said.
The public Wildwood Park, which closes one-half hour after sunset, is located on Fourth Street. On the night of the incident, there were at least two witnesses from San Jose, Hirokawa said, who were not with the suspect. One called from a phone at the restaurant Blue Rock Shoot on Big Basin Way, saying that a suspicious person with a gun looked as if he was going to shoot.
Upon arriving at the scene, the officers parked outside, and walked into the park from different directions.
While the call came at 11:30, the deputies found Leyden at about 11:40.
After shooting him, the officers handcuffed Leyden and called paramedics. Leyden was conscious, and there was no resistance after he was shot, Hirokawa said.
McGrady is a 15-year veteran of the sheriff's office and is assigned to patrol in Saratoga. Since the incident, he has been given administrative leave with pay, which is an automatic action that the sheriff's office takes when an officer is involved in a shooting, Hirokawa said. There will be two investigations, as is procedure--an internal affairs investigation and a criminal investigation in regard to the charges filed.
Hirokawa said the investigation has begun, since the office has the suspect's gun in possession. Part of the investigation will entail talks with the other responding officers, he said.
Leyden was booked into the Santa Clara County Main Jail on two felony charges: felony drawing and exhibiting a firearm at a peace officer, and for drawing and exhibiting a firearm with the intent of resisting or preventing of arrest by a peace officer. Leyden could end up in state prison, Hirokawa said.
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
