SANTA CLARA — A police officer responding to a stabbing report early Wednesday broke through the front door of a home and immediately encountered a man overpowering his roommate and raising a knife for a potential killing strike, prompting the officer to fatally shoot the man, authorities said.
Santa Clara Police Chief Cory Morgan detailed the deadly shooting at a news conference Friday, lauding Officer Robert Allsup’s quick actions in a rapidly unfolding clash.
“The officer’s split-second decision in a life-threatening situation ensured that nobody else was injured or killed,” Morgan said. “Our officers train for moments like this, not because we want to face them, but because we must be prepared to protect lives when every second counts.”
A resident of a home in the 1800 block of Eisenhower Drive called 911 at 6:18 a.m. Wednesday to report that one of his roommates had stabbed another roommate, police said.
Allsup was the first officer to arrive, and upon approaching the front door, he heard a loud commotion inside and kicked open the door, Morgan said. Within moments he was in a hallway watching the stabbing suspect — a man whose name was not released pending his formal identification and notification of his next of kin by the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner’s Office — straddling another man while holding a kitchen knife.
A body camera image is displayed, from a Santa Clara police officer who shot and killed a man who had stabbed his roommate at a home on Eisenhower Drive, at a news conference at police headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif. on Sept. 5, 2025. (Robert Salonga/Bay Area News Group)
Morgan said the officer ordered the attacker to stop, to no avail. At the news conference, the police department displayed still images from Allsup’s body camera showing the scene before and after the shooting.
“The suspect ignored the commands and raised their arm holding the knife to a striking position above the victim,” he said. “When the officer saw the suspect’s hand holding the knife come down toward the victim, the officer shot four times, striking the suspect with all four of the shots.”
The man who was shot was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. The stabbing victim suffered stab wounds to his hands, chest, lung and abdomen, and was treated and released, Morgan said.
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The man who died used two knives in the course of attacking his roommate, Morgan said: The first knife broke, prompting him to retrieve a second.
Allsup, a 12-year member of the police department, was placed on paid administrative leave while a shooting investigation was conducted by the department and the county district attorney’s office, all of which are routine after police shootings in the county.
Morgan said police were last called to the home Aug. 12 to respond to the same two men involving an apparent dispute over the use of the home’s air conditioner. He said what led up to Wednesday’s clash is still under investigation.
“Let me be clear: Any loss of life is tragic, and our thoughts are with everyone affected by this incident,” the chief said. “At the same time, I want to commend the officer for their bravery in confronting an immediate threat under extremely difficult circumstances.”
