Fremont Police have released some dramatic body-worn camera footage connected with a fatal police shooting of a robbery suspect identified as 34-year-old Joshua James Gloria along Highway 84 last month.
On March 24, 2021, the incident occurred at around 14:48 hours local time following a pursuit that ended on eastbound SR-84, west of Newark Boulevard.
The vehicle being pursued had been reported stolen and was associated with an armed robbery.
Fremont Police Officer Burch was on patrol in the Ardenwood area of Fremont.
Officer Burch was wearing his full police uniform and riding his fully marked police motorcycle.
Officer Burch was working traffic enforcement when he heard over his police radio that a vehicle had activated a License Plate Reader camera in the area.
As well as being stolen, the suspect’s vehicle was wanted in connection with an armed robbery in San Francisco.
Officer Burch located the suspect vehicle as it entered Newark from southbound Ardenwood Blvd in Fremont.
The motorcycle cop followed the vehicle through the parking lot while waiting for additional units to arrive.
Officer Burch told the driver to exit the vehicle, but he fled the scene with officer Burch in pursuit.
The suspect drove northbound on Newark Blvd and turned onto the on-ramp of eastbound Hwy 84.
After hitting several vehicles, the suspect’s car became undrivable.
The suspect immediately exited his vehicle with a firearm while running towards and shooting at Officer Burch, who was still on his motorcycle.
Officer Burch was forced to jump off of his motorcycle and retreat down the shoulder embankment while the suspect continued to fire at him.
After being chased and shot at, Officer Burch immediately drew his department-issued service weapon and walked back towards the suspect before calmly taking aim.
As officer Burch returned fire, the armed suspect was straddling the police motorcycle, which was equipped with a department-issued AR-15 rifle.
The suspect fell to the ground after being struck.
The San Jose Police Department contacted the Fremont Police Department after this incident. San Jose Police had an arrest warrant for Gloria for attempted homicide and felon in possession of a firearm.
Police wanted Gloria for a shooting that occurred at an illegal gambling facility where he shot a victim multiple times, including a shot to the back of the head, while the victim was on the ground.
The San Jose victim was critically injured but survived.
Miraculously, officer Burch was not injured despite being shot at several times.
The guy failed to stop after shooting someone in the head. He eventually had to stop and immediately opened fire. Shots were returned and the felon died. Excellent result. Bullets are far cheaper than trials, endless appeals and the cost of locking someone up for 450 years.
Message to felons. Do not play with fire. You will get burnt. We need a bit more of that over here.