SAN JOSE, CA – A San Jose police officer was deemed justified in his use of lethal force during a hostage situation last year, according to a report from the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office released Tuesday. Officer Edward Carboni, a trained police sniper, shot and killed an intruder who threatened to decapitate a mother and her two sons with a machete.
In March 2023, Eliobert Gonzalez, a 35-year-old man, forced his way into an apartment in Boynton Avenue wielding two machetes and a deceptive pellet gun that closely resembled a .357 Magnum firearm. Inside were a woman and her two sons, aged 7 and 18. The 35-year-old man had recently been evicted from the same apartment complex and erroneously thought the family were the building managers.
Over a terrifying 45-minute period, Gonzalez persistently terrorized the family, demanding they assist him in returning to his former apartment. In addition to the threats of decapitation, he forced the mother to tie up her older son and compelled the family to lie on their apartment floor. Despite the mother’s pleas to release her children and offers of divine forgiveness, Gonzalez was unmoved.
While the high-stakes incident unfolded, Gonzalez continued to disregard calls from police to surrender. He brazenly informed the hostages that if the police attempted to arrest him, he would resort to violence.
As the situation escalated, Officer Carboni intervened and fired multiple shots from his tactical rifle through the apartment’s bedroom window, thereby fatally wounding Gonzalez and successfully ending the hostage situation.
This incident wasn’t Officer Edward Carboni’s first encounter with an “Officer Involved Incident” investigation. Three previous instances required similar probes into his use of lethal force, all of which concluded his actions were lawful, affirmed Prosecutor Robert Baker. Baker noted that Carboni’s “reasonable tactical decision” had spared the lives of the family from an “erratic and violent machete-wielding man.”