For Immediate Release                                 
November 2, 2001

San Jose Mayor Posts $25,000 Reward in Murder of Police Officer

San Jose, CA ----  San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales and Chief of Police William Lansdowne have announced a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the murderer of San Jose Police Officer Jeffrey Fontana.

Fontana was killed early Sunday morning, October 28, while making a stop in the Almaden Valley neighborhood.

“This was a crime that affects the safety of every one of us in San Jose in every neighborhood throughout our city,” said Mayor Gonzales.  “We are therefore calling on our entire community to help us find the suspect so that we can protect our families and our neighborhoods.”

Gonzales commended the strong response already received from the community so far this week.  “Despite all the help we have had in this case, however, we need to take the next step to make sure we can close it as quickly as possible.”

Mayor Gonzales established the “Safe Families and Neighborhoods Reward Fund” in June this year to assist police efforts to apprehend suspects in serious crimes.  The mayor began the fund with a $50,000 contribution from his own office budget, and since then residents and businesses have contributed nearly $18,000 more.

San Jose Police have identified DeShawn Campbell as a suspect in the Fontana shooting.  Campbell is still at-large, and the police department is asking for the public’s help in locating him.  Police say the suspect should be considered armed and dangerous.

Anyone seeing the suspect should call 911 immediately. Anyone with information on this case is urged to call Detective Sgt. Pete Ramirez and Detective Sgt. Vaughan Edwards of the San Jose Police Homicide Unit at 408-277-5283. Persons wishing to remain anonymous may call Crime Stoppers at 408-947-STOP.

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San Jose City Hall      801 N. First St., San Jose,  CA 95110      tel (408) 277-5131  fax ( 408) 277-3131     www.ci.san-jose.ca.us