Suspect in 2022 San Jose killing sent back to Bay Area after serving time in Arizona prison

SAN JOSE — A man arrested in San Jose last year and extradited to Arizona on an outstanding warrant has been returned to the Bay Area after police determined that he had killed one man and wounded another in a July 2022 shooting near the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds.

The suspect, Noel Cortez, 33, was originally arrested in September 2022 in San Jose, police said in a news release Monday. Authorities said he had an outstanding warrant in Arizona, though they did not specify the nature of the warrant. Following the arrest, he was extradited to the Arizona State Prison Complex.

While Cortez was in custody in Arizona, police determined that he was responsible for the San Jose shooting, though they did not say how they reached that conclusion.

The shooting took place on July 31, 2022 around 3:55 a.m. on the 300 block of Umbarger Road, according to authorities. One man, Bryan Alberto Lopez Fajardo of Sacramento, was pronounced dead at the scene. Another man was wounded and self-transported to a hospital, where he was treated.

On June 28 of this year, Cortez was turned over to the custody of San Jose police detectives, who brought him back to the Bay Area. He was booked into Santa Clara County Main Jail on suspicion of murder.