Parks and Recreation alum Jonathan Joss had alleged problems with multiple neighbors over the years, sources exclusively shared with Us Weekly.
After the actor was killed on Sunday, June 1, following an alleged altercation with a neighbor in San Antonio, Texas, two individuals have come forward to share what they say were their experiences with Joss.
“He always had problems with neighbors,” one source shared with Us. “These altercations with neighbors were going on for years. It’s a short block and of the 12 houses, I would say he had issues with five or six of them.”
Another insider claimed, “For years, there had been confrontations. Everyone was well aware of Jonathan for years.”
Earlier this month, Joss’ husband, Tristan Kern de Gonzales, confirmed the actor’s death at the age of 59 after a fatal shooting. He believes his partner died as the result of a targeted hate crime.
Although the San Antonio Police Department initially said they found no evidence whatsoever to indicate that Mr. Joss’ murder was related to his sexual orientation, Police Chief William P. McManus explained in a press conference on Thursday, June 5, that the statement was “premature.”
He added that homicide detectives are “continuing to pursue every lead in this case to ensure that we understand the full picture of what led up to the senseless murder of Mr. Joss.”
Neighbor Sigfredo Ceja has confessed to police that “I shot him,” per a police report. He was later released on bail and has been ordered on full house arrest. The San Antonio Police Department says the murder is still under investigation.
Joss’ husband recently shared his perspective on the case in a social media post.
“My husband Jonathan Joss and I were involved in a shooting while checking the mail at the site of our former home in San Antonio, Texas,” Kern de Gonzales shared via Facebook on June 2. “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. We reported these threats to law enforcement multiple times and nothing was done.”
According to police records viewed by Us, there were more than 65 emergency calls for service involving Joss’ address over the last three years.
In a police press conference on Thursday, McManus said sometimes Joss was the caller while other times, the neighbors were calling on him.
“Our safe unit, our mental health units, had extensive engagements with Mr. Joss making repeated efforts to mediate conflicts and connect him with services that he may have needed,” he added.
Multiple sources recalled instances when Joss would raise alarms in the neighborhood.
“Before the fire, he started yelling and accusing us of calling the police. He was jumping in front of cars and stopping cars,” the second source alleged to Us. “I didn’t see him since [the fire] until Sunday when [the shooting] happened. My son was so scared. He said, ‘Oh my god, Jonathan is back. Jonathan is yelling.’ He yelled, ‘Oh I’m back mother****ers! Y’all couldn’t get rid of me. This is my property.’”
The first source claimed, “He would walk down the street with a sledgehammer screaming. When I couldn’t get a hold of him one time, I asked for a welfare check and [police] told me they took him to be observed.” (Police records viewed by Us confirm that police responded to welfare checks in 2023 and 2024.)
Although entertainment fans know Joss for voicing John Redcorn in King of the Hill and portraying Ken Hotate on Parks and Recreation, the second source explained that neighbors saw a different side of the actor away from any cameras.
“Jonathan had two sides to him — what the public saw and who he could turn into,” the insider continued. “Jonathan would make threats but not directly. He would yell out loud but not yelling from his house. [He was] in the street walking up and down and yelling.”
Although the source said some neighbors felt bad, some were also “scared because you don’t know what you’re going to get from him.”
A year prior to the shooting on June 8, the same man who was arrested for Joss’ murder stated that he was the victim of Joss’ “name calling and yelling racial slurs,” according to an incident report obtained by Us.
Per the record, he took video of Joss’ “vehicle driving slowly and stopping in front of [Ceja’s] house to try and get [him] to come out” and made “multiple reports of Goss harassing him and his brother … but nothing has been done.”
“[Ceja] mentioned that every time officers leave, [Joss] will come back outside and start name calling and telling [him] that he is coming for him” and Ceja told police he is “afraid to let his wife and kids leave the house by themselves because of [Joss],” who is “known to follow them around the neighborhood.”
When he spoke to police, Joss got “very defensive and stated that he does not bother [Ceja] at all.”
That same day cops were called again after neighbors reported Joss was “walking the streets with a cross bow in his hands.” When police arrived, they arrested him for an active warrant stemming from a criminal mischief case.
And during another incident on July 9, 2024, police noted that Joss’ address was “considered a nuisance” after reports of the actor “causing disturbances with a gun in the past and his guns were confiscated.”
When police went inside his home they described it was in “poor condition” with “holes in the ceiling, roof shingles used as wallpaper, dog feces on the floor and debris in every room,” according to the report.
While Joss may not have been the easiest neighbor, sources also had sympathy for the actor, who struggled to find work during a portion of his career.
“During the pandemic and the SAG strike, he was out of work for two to three years and he did not manage it well at all,” the first source said. “He did Comic-Con, but it was a very tough time. … He was in dire financial distress and then the house burned down.”
The second insider even recalled moments of helping Joss after his house burned down by providing some money, water and clothes.
“We were friendly at first, and I would send plates of food, and I would give him my rug and household items to use around the house I was no longer using,” the insider recalled. “We were rooting for him and hoping he would make a comeback professionally and personally.”
Us has reached out to Joss’ husband for comment.
