A man shot and seriously wounded his wife and daughter and then held his 4-year-old son hostage inside their San Jose townhouse for 12 hours before surrendering Tuesday morning, police said.
After threatening to blow up the condominium complex and exchanging gunfire with police, wounding an officer, the man finally emerged with the boy and was taken into custody without a struggle shortly after dawn. The suspect, 40-year-old Gerard Riffel, was jailed on three counts of attempted murder.
"The negotiators did a wonderful job," police Sgt. Steve Dixon said. "This is the conclusion that we wanted." The boy was unharmed, though traumatized, Dixon said. Riffel's wife, 42-year-old Diane Green-Riffel, and their 5-year-old daughter, Heather Riffel, both were shot twice before they were rescued during the standoff. Green-Riffel was hospitalized in serious to critical condition, and Heather was in serious condition.
Investigators believe Riffel was armed with a shotgun and a handgun, but there was no indication he actually had explosives, Dixon said.
The motive was unclear. Dixon said police had never been called to the house before.
More than 40 neighbors were evacuated from the complex, known as California Maison, a large collection of salmon-colored townhouses on San Jose's rural southern edge. Several police officers from San Jose and neighboring Campbell live in the complex, residents said.
The standoff started when Green-Riffel called a friend to say her husband had a gun and was threatening the family, Dixon said. The friend called 911. Just before officers arrived, the suspect called 911 to say he had shot his wife, Dixon said.
About 45 minutes later, Riffel set his daughter down in front of the house, Dixon said, adding that the girl was crying hysterically and that the front of her pajamas was stained with blood. Three officers crawled on their bellies to grab the girl and take her to paramedics.
Soon after, Riffel dragged his wounded wife into the garage, and officers hiding behind a shield darted in to grab her, Dixon said.
Several hours later, police traded shots with Riffel as they tried to deliver a cell phone they wanted to use to negotiate with him, Dixon said. Officer Gregory Raymond was shot in the pelvis; he was in serious condition Tuesday afternoon but was expected to recover.
Neighbors were stunned. Bob Stairs, 43, who has lived there for seven years, described the complex as typically "very quiet, almost too quiet." Eric Fakiri, who lives several doors down from Riffel and his family, said he didn't know the man but would often see him sitting alone and smoking in his black truck for long stretches at all hours of the day. Fakiri said that gave him the sense that something wasn't right inside the house.<
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