LOS GATOS POLICE KILL FLEEING MAN IN SHOOTOUT

A quiet San Jose cul-de-sac erupted into gunfire early Monday morning as
two Los Gatos police officers shot to death a 49-year-old man in that
department's first officer-related fatality in at least 20 years.

Police said they chased and cornered Larry Edward Glendown in west San
Jose's Elester Court after the man fled following a traffic stop. After the
man pointed his gun at them, the two officers shot Glendown at least four
times, wounding him on the front steps of Keith and Stephanie Robnett's
ranch-style home. Glendown was pronounced dead at Santa Clara Valley
Medical Center.

``It sounded like a war zone,'' Keith Robnett said later as he scrubbed his
front steps with bleach to remove bloodstains. ``Nothing like this ever
happens here.''

The dead man's sister, Diane Glendown, said he visited her Sunday night,
according to San Jose police Sgt. Gary Kirby. She said that as he walked
out the door, he told her, ``They're not going to take me back to prison.''

After the shooting, officers said, they found methamphetamine, drug
packaging material, scales and another loaded handgun in Larry Glendown's
van. Police said he had served time for murder, assault with a deadly
weapon, domestic violence and battery.

According to San Jose and Los Gatos police, the incident unfolded about 5
a.m. when officer Steve Wahl and Sgt. Dave Moody, apparently on a drug
stakeout near National and Carlton avenues in Los Gatos, stopped Glendown's
van, believing he was driving erratically.

Glendown briefly got out of his van to talk with officers but seconds later
jumped back into the vehicle and took off, police said.

Officers chased him about a mile to dead-end Elester Court, where Glendown
apparently panicked and ran the van onto the sidewalk, police said. The two
officers then positioned their patrol cars on each side of Glendown's van,
blocking his escape.

Glendown allegedly bolted from the vehicle, pulled out a handgun and
pointed it at Wahl as the officer crouched on the front seat of his patrol
car.

As Glendown circled the police car, Wahl shot several times from his
crouched position, blowing out all the windows of his vehicle. He was not
injured, nor was Moody, his partner. Glendown had yet to be hit.

Glendown took off, running toward the Robnetts' house, and, using his
shoulder as a battering ram, tried to break down the front door, police
said. When the door wouldn't budge, he turned and again pointed his gun at
the two officers, who opened fire, hitting him several times in the chest
and once in the head, investigators said. Glendown fell to the ground in
front of the Robnetts' house.

``He (Glendown) tried with all intent and purpose to kill that officer,''
Los Gatos police Capt. Jeff Miller said. ``He (Wahl) was literally pinned
in his car and shot back in full fear that he was a dead man. It was really
close for him, a real squeaker.''

San Jose police, who are investigating the incident, said late Monday they
are conducting tests to determine whether Glendown's handgun discharged
during the incident. Officers initially examining the handgun said it
probably malfunctioned.

``Who knows what would have happened if he'd gotten through that door,'' a
shaken Keith Robnett said. ``I'm pretty sure he would have run into one of
us. What kept going through my mind is I couldn't remember if I'd locked
the door or not. Sometimes we do, but sometimes we don't.''