The California Highway Patrol reported gunfire between two automobiles on eastbound Interstate 580 near Oakland on Friday night (14 July), forcing the freeway to be closed to traffic.
The gunshΘt was reported near Grand Avenue at 6:23 p.m., according to CHP spokesman Andrew Barclay. In the midst of the chaos, a car that was not engaged in the gunfight was struck, and an 8-year-old boy was injured.
The incident resulted in the closure of a portion of the I-580 for several hours as police located shell casings and placed evidence markers. The two suspect vehicles were characterized by the CHP as a dark gray SUV and a maroon SUV. No descriptions of suspects were provided.
Do you know that on Thursday evening (13 July), just south of Birmingham, a 25-year-old woman who called 911 to report a toddler walking down the side of a busy Alabama highway vanished along with any traces of a child? If you do, then you should know that the lady who called 911 to report the child has also gone missing:
According to a CHP spokesperson, the suspect vehicles may have exited the freeway at Park Boulevard via municipal streets. CHP reported that after the boy was struck, his mother drove him to Highland Hospital before transferring him to UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in Oakland.
On Friday evening, his condition was unknown. During a press conference on Friday night, CHP Lieutenant Slade Durham was visibly shaken by the vá¼°olence.
He said –
“Another senseless tragedy that happens on our freeways … We had two vehicles that chose to utilize our freeway systems as a rolling gun battle.”
“Anyone can relate that has children when a child is struck by gunfire or a vá¼°olent crime occurs. It touches you.”
Drew Vanzee, who lives next to the freeway overpass and saw the emergency reaction, said –
“It’s terrible. We’ve been dealing with shΘΘtings, robberies, car break-ins — I mean, it’s endless you know? It’s another kid. It’s ridiculous. Things are beyond out of hand.”
This was the second gunshΘt on a freeway in the Bay Area on Friday. A motorist was injured earlier in the afternoon on San Francisco’s Interstate 280. This incident took place at approximately 1:00 p.m. along southbound I-280 at Alemany Boulevard.
This is the third shΘΘting involving a minor this week. A stray bullet struck an 8-year-old child in a passing car on Martin Luther King Boulevard on Wednesday afternoon. Later that night, a 13-year-old girl was struck by a stray bullet on MacArthur Blvd. Both victims were treated and released from the hospital.
