Fatal stabbing leads to standoff with SWAT team

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- A nine hour standoff in San Jose has ended but a lot of questions remain. The SWAT team surrounded the house in the 200 block of Cleveland Avenue at Forest Avenue after an apparent stabbing early Friday morning.

The house at the center of the standoff and possible homicide stands out from others near San Jose's Rose Garden neighborhood. A family friend says two brothers live there. Property and business records indicate Roger and Gary Gantzert each ran their own plumbing business from the home and neighbors say it was a busy place.

"Gary takes in a lot of homeless people, some of the kids and homeless kids, takes them in for a while get them on their feet; Gary's a good guy," family friend Robert Barnes said.

The standoff started when police got a 911 call from the home that a man with stab wounds was on the front porch. That person later died at the hospital, but when police arrived shortly before 2 a.m., the people in the house went into a lockdown mode and refused to come out.

"The hostage question, there is no indication that these residents in the house were being held hostage," San Jose Police Ofc. Jose Garcia said.

Police are not identifying the person who initiated the standoff and the massive SWAT team response, but after nine hours, he came out and police are now questioning everyone inside about the stabbing.

"They are still looking at the house for weapons and evidence to determine if it is a crime scene," Garcia said.

So far, police have not identified anyone involved in the standoff or the victim, which leaves a lot of unanswered questions.

Police know who the victim is but they are not making his identity public because his family has not been notified.

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standoff, SJPD, san jose, crime, south bay news, karina rusk

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