'Parks and Recreation,' 'King of the Hill' actor Jonathan Joss killed in shooting incident
Jonathan Joss of King of the Hill and Parks and Recreation fame died in a shooting incident. He was 59.
CNN, citing the San Antonio Police Department, reported that officers were dispatched on Sunday, June 1, to a location on Dorsey Drive in San Antonio in Texas for a reported shooting in progress.
They found Joss “near the roadway of the location" and “attempted life saving measures” until paramedics arrived. He was pronounced dead by emergency service responders.
The police said they have arrested a suspect.
Tristan Kern de Gonzales, Joss' husband, through a Facebook post using the latter's account, said they were involved in a shooting "while checking the mail at the site of our former home."
"That home was burned down after over two years of threats from people in the area who repeatedly told us they would set it on fire," De Gonzales said. "We reported these threats to law enforcement multiple times and nothing was done."
According to De Gonzales, he and Joss "were harassed regularly by individuals who made it clear they did not accept our relationship."
"Much of the harassment was openly homophobic," he said.
He recalled discovering the skull of one of their dogs while checking their mail, with its harness "placed in clear view." It caused them "severe emotional distress," De Gonzales said, prompting them to "began yelling and crying in response to the pain" that they saw.
As it happened, he said a man approached them. "He started yelling violent homophobic slurs at us. He then raised a gun from his lap and fired," De Gonzales said, adding that he and Joss had no weapons and weren't threatening anyone. "When the man fired Jonathan pushed me out of the way. He saved my life."
He then paid tribute to his husband, noting Joss gave him "more love in our time together than most people ever get."
"We were newlyweds. We picked Valentines Day. We were in the process of looking for a trailer and planning our future," he said. "He was murdered by someone who could not stand the sight of two men loving each other."
Addressing Joss' fans, De Gonzales said the actor valued them deeply and saw them as family.
Moving forward, De Gonzales said his focus now is on "protecting Jonathan’s legacy and honoring the life we built together."
"If your concern is how someone coped with trauma or how loudly they speak when recounting injustice and being ignored by authorities then you never truly cared about my husband," he said.
"Jonathan saved my life. I will carry that forward. I will protect what he built," he added.
On X, the San Antonio Police Department said it's investigating Joss' murder, but noted that "despite online claims of this being a hate crime, currently the investigation has found no evidence to indicate that Mr. Joss’ murder was related to his sexual orientation."
On the political satire Parks and Recreation, Joss became known for portraying Chief Ken Hotate, the tribal elder of the Wamapoke Native American tribe and the owner of the Wamapoke Casino.
On the animated sitcom King of the Hill, he served as the voice actor of the Native American masseur John Redcom.
