The officers believed the man was armed because he brandished what appeared to be a gun during the chase in the city's Blossom Valley neighborhood, Sgt. Jason Dwyer said.

They "felt the suspect presented an imminent danger," Dwyer said.

He said an officer was following the driver of a Ford Contour who was acting suspiciously around 2:30 p.m. when he rammed the officer's car and drove away. Dwyer said the man hit two other police cars and threw objects, including a purse and a bag of baseball bats, out of the car window during the chase.

Police said the man led officers onto Highway 85 before leaving the highway after a blowout flattened his rear left tire. Witnesses told the San Jose Mercury News he kept driving the car on three tires, speeding more than 100 miles per hour on a city street.

"His car was very loud, making a lot of noise, but he was very calm, like nothing was going on," Jim Grasso said. "It was very strange."

Two officers who saw the man abandon the disabled car and run toward a home fired several rounds at him.

"At that point, he displayed threatening behavior toward the officers," Dwyer said.

The man's name was not immediately released.