Sunnyvale Aids Deadly Santa Clara Shooting

Santa Clara police said on May 14 that a deadly shooting and house fire on Enright Avenue a week earlier was a murder-suicide involving two estranged brothers, ending days of uncertainty around a neighborhood lockdown that drew help from nearby agencies. Police identified the dead men as Mark Heflin, 52, of Santa Clara, and Matthew Heflin, 49, of Bloomington, Indiana. Investigators said Matthew Heflin traveled to the South Bay weeks before the attack, rented the house next door to his brother and waited for a chance to confront him. Sunnyvale public safety personnel were among the agencies that assisted during the response, according to local reporting and city information on Sunnyvale’s integrated police-fire department. ### How did police say the attack unfolded? May 8 is the date police say the case began to unfold in public. Officers responded around 12:30 p.m. to reports of multiple gunshots in the area of Serra and Enright avenues and found one man shot outside while a nearby house was burning. Chief Cory Morgan said on May 14 that Matthew Heflin confronted Mark Heflin as Mark was getting items from his car. (nbcbayarea.com) After what Morgan described as a brief verbal exchange, the suspect opened fire with a handgun concealed in a paper bag. Investigators recovered 12 spent shell casings in front of the residence, Morgan said. The suspect then moved through the side yard of the rental property, fired additional rounds toward the victim’s vehicle and home, and returned inside the rental, where police say he intentionally set a rear bedroom on fire before killing himself. (nbcbayarea.com) Firefighters later found a second body inside the burned home. ### Why was the house next door central to the case? Santa Clara police said Matthew Heflin secretly rented the house next door to his estranged brother after arriving from Indiana. (nbcbayarea.com) Investigators believe he spent several weeks in the San Jose area before the killing, according to police statements carried by local television outlets. Inside the burned residence, Morgan said investigators recovered the suspect’s passport, ammunition, manufactured fire logs, about $95,000 in U.S. currency and four pistols. (nbcbayarea.com) Police have not said publicly why he brought the cash or weapons, and they said the motive remains under investigation. ### Why did the neighborhood see evacuations and shelter orders? Enright Avenue became an active crime scene on May 8 as police searched for a shooter they had not yet located and worked around a structure fire at the same time. (nbcbayarea.com) Residents nearby were ordered out quickly, according to neighbors interviewed by NBC Bay Area, and officers searched homes in the area as the scene expanded. ABC7 reported that authorities issued evacuation and shelter-in-place instructions during the response while drones, helicopters and heavy equipment were used as investigators tried to secure the block and search the burned house. That sequence explains why the incident drew a larger public-safety footprint than a single homicide scene would typically require. (nbcbayarea.com) ### Where does Sunnyvale fit into the response? Sunnyvale’s Department of Public Safety is one of the few fully integrated police-fire agencies in the United States, with officers cross-trained in law enforcement, firefighting and emergency medical work, according to the city. Local coverage said Sunnyvale public safety assisted after the shooting and fire in neighboring Santa Clara. The city page does not detail this incident, but it identifies the department as the agency that handles police, fire and EMS functions for Sunnyvale. (abc7news.com) ### What is still not known? Police Chief Cory Morgan said on May 14 that investigators believe the attack was isolated and targeted, but he also said they still do not know the motive. The brothers had been estranged, police said, yet authorities have not publicly described the dispute or said whether there had been prior threats. The Santa Clara County medical examiner identified the dead as Mark Heflin and Matthew Heflin on May 13. (sunnyvale.ca.gov) Santa Clara police have continued to direct the public to official city channels for updates, while fire and police records are available through the city’s public-records process. (abc7news.com) (svvoice.com)