The San Jose Kaiser shooting on Monday morning left a male suspect dead and a woman fighting for her life, after gunfire erupted in a parking lot outside a Kaiser Permanente medical office building in South San Jose.

What Happened

The San Jose Police Department responded to the scene at around 10:14 a.m. in the 5700 block of Cottle Road. According to authorities, the shooting unfolded in an outdoor parking lot shared by several medical offices.

Both people involved were found with at least one gunshot wound each and were rushed to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries. The male victim later died from his wounds, while the woman remains in critical but stable condition.

Police Believe the Man Was the Suspect

During an afternoon briefing, SJPD Public Information Officer Stacie Shih said investigators believe the deceased man was the primary suspect in the shooting. She emphasized that the investigation is ongoing as detectives work to establish the motive and circumstances, but offered a key reassurance: there is no ongoing threat to public safety.

Investigators confirmed that the man and woman knew each other, though the exact nature of their relationship, and what triggered the violence, remains under investigation. Police have declined to formally label the incident an attempted murder-suicide while the case is still active.

Panic Inside the Facility

The gunfire took place directly outside buildings housing Kaiser Permanente’s ophthalmology and psychiatry outpatient clinics, which operate separately from the nearby main Kaiser emergency hospital complex. The shooting sent staff and patients scrambling to shelter in place.

Lisa Cohn, whose husband works as a surgeon at the complex, described the frightening scene inside. She recounted that he heard screaming as a police team moved through the building, directing people away from the windows and into a central area of the ophthalmology facility for safety.

A Quiet Neighborhood Shaken

For nearby residents, the violence felt jarringly out of place. Local resident Amanda Steele said she was shocked that something like this could happen in what she described as a generally safe area with little crime.

A heavy law enforcement presence remained at the scene into the afternoon, prompting temporary street closures around Cottle Road and Beswick Drive. Kaiser Permanente canceled the remaining appointments at the affected offices for the day.

Kaiser’s Response

In a statement, Kaiser Permanente confirmed that the shooting occurred outside its medical office campus on Cottle Road and that the two individuals involved knew one another. The organization described the episode as a personal matter, with the shooter having come to an employee’s place of work, and noted that the shooter had died from his injuries.

While calling the isolated event deeply concerning, Kaiser stressed that there was no ongoing threat to its employees, physicians, patients, members, or visitors. Citing the active investigation and respect for the privacy of those involved, the organization said it could not share further details at this time.

Kaiser added that the safety and well-being of everyone on its campus remains its highest priority, expressed gratitude for the swift response of its staff, security personnel, and first responders, and said it is fully cooperating with the San Jose Police Department.

The investigation remains ongoing as authorities continue working to piece together exactly what led to the deadly encounter.