SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) — More than 100 pages of court documents detail the extensive criminal history of the 26-year-old suspect of a San Jose triple homicide, Joseph Vicencio. It involves past gun-related arrests and mental health struggles.
The overnight shooting within a South San Jose neighborhood on Tuesday left three dead at a residence off of Chynoweth Avenue.
A day later, San Jose Police arrested Vicencio. He’s accused of committing the triple homicide and it’s not his first run-in with the law.
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According to court documents obtained by ABC7 News, Vicencio’s history of legal issues dates back to May 2017 – when he was charged with vandalism for breaking a window during a disagreement at the San Jose group home where he lived.
In 2019, Vicencio was arrested on suspicion of carrying a concealed weapon at another group home.
He was placed on a 72-hour psychiatric hold because he told police that day that he wanted to shoot himself, according to records.
Then six months later, he was arrested and charged at 21 years old – accused of shooting at the Martin Luther King Jr. library and nearby parking garage at San Jose State University.
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Six years later, Vicencio is now accused of shooting and killing three people – highlighting what Mayor Matt Mahan calls a disturbing pattern in California.
“Which is a crisis of untreated addiction and mental illness,” Mahan said. “This repeat offender phenomenon where we are failing to intervene early enough and adequately enough to get people the help that they need.”
After the 2019 incident, Vicencio’s father told our media partners at the Mercury News that his son had “a fascination with guns” and struggled with mental illness.
The man told the Merc he also suffered from depression as well as drug use, which contributed to his son’s issues.
In a social media video posted Thursday, Vicencio’s father repeated a similar message:
“Guilty or innocent, that’s not why I’m asking for prayer. I am asking for prayer for his soul. If anyone should be in the trouble he is, it’s me. I was the bad father. I was the one who introduced him to a lot of garbage that never should have came into his life.”
We sat down with legal analyst and former prosecutor Steven Clark about Joseph Vicencio’s criminal history.
“The disturbing aspects of his criminal history are that the San Jose police actually got a gun violence restraining order against him, precluding him from owning a firearm, based on his mental health issue, his fascination with guns, and his prior criminal conduct,” Clark said.
“He had no right to possess or own a firearm. And the big question will be, where did get this gun, when did he get it? Did anyone know about it, and did anyone give it to him. I think that will be the next phase of the investigation,” Clark said.
Vicencio’s father told ABC7 News on the phone, his heart goes out to all the victims and that he loves his son.
“I’m asking for prayer for his soul that he might look to Jesus at this time and Jesus get ahold of his life period. Whether he is guilty or not guilty I don’t care what the point is is that he finds Jesus – and for those who are wondering, I love my son,” he said.
Tarrah Lynn Taylor and Max Ryan are two of the three victims killed in Tuesday’s shooting.
Mahan confirmed Ryan was a city employee who worked in homelessness outreach within the housing department.
Grief counselors have been made available as friends and coworkers mourn his loss.
“I’ve been told by Max’s coworkers that he was just a really well-liked person and someone who always came in with a smile, said hi to his colleagues and was just a friendly face in the office,” Mahan said. “It’s just a tragedy that his life has been taken like this.”
We have reached out to the Medical Examiner’s Office, but the third victim in this case has not been formally identified at this time.
Vicencio is set to be arraigned in court on Friday afternoon.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact Detective Sergeant Martinez or Detective Jize of the San José Police Department’s Homicide Unit via email: [email protected] and/or [email protected] or at 408-277-5283.
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