Ronald Morriss, 69, male, was shot and killed on the night of June 6, 2025, inside a home on the 6500 block of Camden Avenue in San Jose. Police were called around 10:40 p.m.; officers found an adult man with at least one gunshot wound and, despite life-saving efforts, he was pronounced dead at the scene. The San José Police Department opened a homicide investigation—the city’s 11th of the year—and took a suspect into custody that same night while noting that the victim’s identity and the motive were still being determined.
Within days, local outlets reported that the suspect was Dave Gold, a longtime South Bay soccer coach and former San Jose Earthquakes player. Gold was arrested in connection with the killing and then released while the investigation continued, according to early coverage. Subsequent reports reiterated that he had been detained in the immediate aftermath but not formally charged as detectives worked the case.
In September, detailed accounts emerged of what occurred inside the Almaden Valley home. Gold stated that Ronald Morriss, 69, a close friend of roughly five decades who often stayed with him while working in the Bay Area, had been drinking heavily that evening. After an argument in which Gold said he asked Morriss to leave, Morriss allegedly threatened to kill him, stumbled on the stairs while packing, and then moved aggressively toward him. Gold said he had armed himself with a small revolver because of limited mobility from prior spine surgery; he fired during the confrontation. By mid-September, Gold told reporters he had been cleared of criminal liability in the death of Ronald Morriss.
Public records and memorial listings confirm the victim’s name and age and the date and location of the shooting. While authorities initially withheld the suspect’s identity, later reporting tied the arrest and release to Gold, and the Mercury News front page documented his statement that prosecutors had cleared him after reviewing the circumstances. As of those reports, there were no other suspects publicly named.
