Holiday Oakridge Mall shooting solved: three charged
For release on April 14, 2022
CONTACT:
Michael Vidmar
Deputy District Attorney
Crime Strategies Unit
(408) 792-2489
Holiday Oakridge Mall shooting solved: three charged
An 18-year-old San Jose man is in custody, charged with firing a machine gun at two gang members who robbed him and his girlfriend at the Oakridge Mall right before Christmas.
Naylen Hobson-Plattner did not hit anybody with the barrage of bullets that were fired indiscriminately toward dozens of innocent holiday shoppers.
Hundreds of shoppers were locked down in the mall for chaotic and stressful hours as the San Jose Police Department quickly responded to numerous reports of an active shooter in the crowded mall.
The shooter and robbers, identified by San Jose Police gang investigators, have been arrested, charged, and arraigned. Hobson-Plattner is in custody awaiting his next court hearing on Monday, April 18, 2022 at 9:00 a.m. in Department 24 in the Hall of Justice in San Jose. The two robbers are out of custody pending their next hearing. The investigation is ongoing. More arrests are expected.
“It was a holiday miracle that no one was killed that day in the mall,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said. “I can’t thank the San Jose Police Department enough. It was San Jose officers who entered the mall that day ready to confront a lethal threat. It was San Jose detectives who found them after the chaos and arrested them. Now we will prosecute this incredibly reckless act of gun violence.”
Just before 6:00 p.m. on December 20, 2021, two gang members: later identified as 19-year-old Ulises Jimenez and Paul Lebeau, 18, robbed the shooter and his girlfriend, snatching their jewelry. Hobson-Plattner pulled out a handgun that had been modified to shoot fully automatic and fired at the robbers as they fled toward a crowd of shoppers.
All the suspects fled the mall during the chaos.
During an hours long process, San Jose Police Department Patrol & Special Operations units secured every shop and hallway, including the Target store inside of the Oakridge Mall and the surrounding parking areas. Physical evidence was recovered from the scene, and was later processed by the Santa Clara County Crime Lab.
The robbers were identified, in part, by surveillance footage. DNA linked Hobson-Plattner to evidence recovered at Oakridge from the date of the shooting.
The San Jose Police Covert Response Unit (CRU) found Hobson-Plattner at his residence In January, and he was taken into custody after a minor stand-off. The robbers were arrested and arraigned in March.
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