A 58-year-old Central Valley man with stage 4 cancer was arrested last week after driving from his home in Visalia to the Bay Area with the alleged intent to kill his doctors, Palo Alto police and prosecutors said Tuesday.
Yue Chen allegedly had two loaded guns in addition to notes with locations of his doctors' homes and a typewritten statement about his plans to kill them, prosecutors said.
The case related to Chen, also known as "Randy," began on Wednesday, May 31, when the Visalia Police Department received a call at about 10:30 a.m. from Chen's family reporting that he was missing, Visalia police Sgt. Damon Maurice said. Investigators arriving at the home found notes allegedly written by Chen indicating he wanted to harm himself and others. Two firearms were also missing from the home, Maurice said.
Visalia officers called Palo Alto police and advised them that Chen might be driving to the Bay Area to murder three of his doctors after becoming upset about his medical condition and treatment. The Visalia police also contacted multiple police departments in the Bay Area with jurisdiction over the work and home locations of the doctors, and they put out a statewide bulletin for law enforcement agencies to be on the lookout for Chen.
Palo Alto police received a call from the California Highway Patrol after officers had located and stopped Chen on U.S. Highway 101 and Hellyer Avenue in San Jose around 7:45 p.m., Palo Alto police said. Chen was driving a rental car, a red 2017 Nissan Rogue, and had two loaded semiautomatic handguns with high-capacity magazines inside the vehicle within reach of him, according to Palo Alto police.
Officers arrested Chen without incident and took him to a hospital for treatment related to his medical condition. He was later booked into Santa Clara County Jail on suspicion of attempted murder and illegal carrying of a loaded firearm, police said.
According to Santa Clara County prosecutor Charles Huang, Chen was arrested in a rented red 2017 Nissan Rogue with a typewritten statement that read, "Why do I kill? Two reasons: 1. Revenge 2. Tell those professionals who are still alive that this is possible result if you treat people as an animal like UCSF or Stanford Hopital [sic."
Chen was also found with a white rubber mask and two loaded semiautomatic handguns registered to him with high-capacity magazines within his reach.
"We feel like there's pretty good evidence of intent to kill," Huang said. "Usually the evidence is a little more ambiguous."
Chen told police he has stage 4 cancer, Huang said.
"Good police work led to us finding him and averting what could have been a tremendous tragedy," Huang said.
Chen continued his previously scheduled arraignment to June 28 in Palo Alto. He is being held without bail.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Palo Alto police at 650-329-2413. Tips can also be emailed anonymously to paloalto@tipnow.org or sent by text message or voice mail to 650-383-8984.
Any person who is feeling depressed, troubled or suicidal can call 1-800-784-2433 to speak with a crisis counselor. People in Santa Clara County can call 1-855-278-4204. Spanish speakers can call 1-888-628-9454.
People can reach trained counselors at Crisis Text Line by texting 741741.
Comments
Evergreen Park
on Jun 6, 2017 at 9:42 am
on Jun 6, 2017 at 9:42 am
Excellent work, law enforcement!
Fairmeadow School
on Jun 6, 2017 at 9:46 am
on Jun 6, 2017 at 9:46 am
[Post removed.]
Mountain View
on Jun 6, 2017 at 10:30 am
on Jun 6, 2017 at 10:30 am
'tis a shame. A better way would be to simply stand outside the offices with a sign that said, in simple language, what happened. Passing out fliers helps, too.
Worked for me.
Registered user
Leland Manor/Garland Drive
on Jun 6, 2017 at 11:41 am
Registered user
on Jun 6, 2017 at 11:41 am
The real story behind this one is: when are we going to have serious gun control in our country? Too many unstable people, like the guy in this story, have legal access to guns. We spend trillions of dollars each year on terrorism avoidance and on the military. Less than 100 U.S. citizens die each year worldwide because of terrorism, however 30,000 people die each year because of guns and we do nothing, zilch, nada! This is a scandal. No other advanced democracy has a crazy situation like this...talk about American exceptionalism!
Registered user
Midtown
on Jun 6, 2017 at 12:54 pm
Registered user
on Jun 6, 2017 at 12:54 pm
What illness was this man suffering from, other than mental illness, that made him so dissatisfied with the care he was receiving?
Or was he dissatisfied with the care he was getting for the mental illness?
Glad he is off the streets!
Registered user
Midtown
on Jun 6, 2017 at 12:54 pm
Registered user
on Jun 6, 2017 at 12:54 pm
Claude, you said it! I agree 100% with your well-stated comment about guns in this country. And, it's even sadder that - despite all their talking about the second amendment, the lack of any action by the Congress is because of the money they get from the NRA, who in turn are financed by gun manufacturers. Shameful!
Registered user
Midtown
on Jun 6, 2017 at 4:55 pm
Registered user
on Jun 6, 2017 at 4:55 pm
Claude, the overwhelming majority of Americans can be trusted with their right to bear arms. It is a small subsection that cause the problems -- and our right to bear arms allows us to defend ourselves against them.
Registered user
Community Center
on Jun 6, 2017 at 8:54 pm
Registered user
on Jun 6, 2017 at 8:54 pm
So sick of the 2nd amendment soapbox, the Second Amendment was ratified in December 1791, the amendment says: A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. 1791 was over 225 years ago!! During the colonial period prior to the American Revolution (1775–83), no distinctive American legal system existed. THAT'S why it was important to protect yourself. It's ridiculous to compare today to a time when there was no criminal justice system.
How the US Compares..."Even though the USA has half the population of 22 high-income nations combined, the United States accounted for 82 percent of all gun deaths. The United States also accounted for 90 percent of all women killed by guns. Ninety-one percent of children under 14 who died by gun violence were in the United States. And 92 percent of young people between ages 15 and 24 killed by guns were in the United States, the study found." Web Link
Gun ownership clearly is NOT making the USA safer.
Registered user
Leland Manor/Garland Drive
on Jun 6, 2017 at 11:23 pm
Registered user
on Jun 6, 2017 at 11:23 pm
Nayeli, you are absolutely right, "the overwhelming majority of Americans can be trusted with their right to bear arms." Everything is fine with these good citizens...completely fine, no worries...until:
- They get depressed and use their own gun to commit suicide
- Their child plays with their gun and kills another child
- They get into relationship problems, blow a fuse, and kill their wife/girlfriend
- They get fired and go postal
- Their teenager son, feeling alienated from society, steals their gun and kills classmate and teachers
- They kill an "intruder" who turned out to be a relative
Many studies show that households that have guns are less safe than households that do.
It is a fallacy to think that guns protect you. There are very few examples of people being able to effectively fight an armed bad guy with their own gun. If you are caught in a mass shooting and draw your gun, you could get killed by the police; they have no way of distinguishing between good guys with guns and bad guys with guns.
More importantly, in what kind of world would you like to live? What kind of world would you like to leave to your children and grandchildren? A world where everybody has guns and automatic weapons, or one where very, very, few people do have a gun?
Registered user
Midtown
on Jun 7, 2017 at 1:14 am
Registered user
on Jun 7, 2017 at 1:14 am
Number one item in many people's Emergency Preparedness Kit.
(Although not advertised, and generally stored separately.)
Registered user
Embarcadero Oaks/Leland
on Jun 7, 2017 at 7:53 am
Registered user
on Jun 7, 2017 at 7:53 am
"The overwhelming majority of Americans can be trusted with their right to bear arms". No, they definitely cannot. It's like saying that since traffic deaths caused by DUI are only a minority of traffic deaths, DUI should be permitted. The fact that mentally unstable people, not to speak of deadly, murderous people can, and do obtain guns legally and commit unspeakable atrocities, including the murder of innocent small children, is a proof that Americans cannot be trusted with guns. Ours is a nation plagued by racial hatred, bigotry and ignorance.
The current interpretation of the Second Amendment, a tragic big hoax in my opinion, is akin to collective suicide. Our society will not survive if Americans continue to be allowed to arm themselves at the current rate.