A shooting occurred in the San Pedro Square entertainment district, a popular area in San Jose, California, which is one of the designated "fan zones" for live World Cup broadcasts. The incident left one person dead at the scene and another critically injured.
San Jose police revealed the shooting happened at approximately 21:12 local time on Sunday, 28 June, at the intersection of North Market Street and West Santa Clara Street in the San Pedro Square area.
Officers arriving at the scene found two shooting victims. The first succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead on site. The second victim was critically injured and rushed to a local hospital. Police have not disclosed details about the victims or any suspects or motives. The investigation has been upgraded to a homicide case, with multiple nearby streets closed and the public urged to avoid the area.
A witness and a security officer at the scene reported seeing the injured person in severe pain, bleeding heavily from the neck and upper back. Emergency medical teams and uniformed officers were administering first aid and urgently transporting the wounded individual on a stretcher partially covered with a white sheet.
Authorities added that the incident occurred after the day's World Cup viewing events had ended. The only match of the day concluded around 14:00 local time, so no live World Cup broadcasts were playing on the large screens during the shooting. However, because the area is a popular entertainment and dining district, many visitors and locals were still present. Following the incident, most bars in San Pedro Square were ordered to close immediately, and the scene was cordoned off as a restricted area.
San Pedro Square in San Jose is one of several large "party viewing" or fan zone locations across the San Francisco Bay Area, which typically attract large, lively crowds gathering to watch World Cup matches on big monitors.
To date, the Bay Area has hosted five World Cup matches, including the most recent one on Wednesday: a quarterfinal match between Bosnia and the United States, which is a co-host of the tournament.