Freeway Shooting Prompts I-80 Closure Monday Morning

RICHMOND, CA - A freeway chase in which the suspect is believed to have fired at pursuing officers led to the closure of eastbound Interstate Highway 80 near the El Portal Drive exit this morning, police said.

Richmond officers were called to the 900 block of 23rd Street around 5 a.m. on a report of a man who might be armed with a rifle, according to Lt. Felix Tan.

When officers showed up, the suspect jumped into a vehicle and took off. The officers caught up with him on 23rd Street in San Pablo and pursued him onto the freeway, according to Tan.

The officer pursuing the suspect believed the man fired on him during the freeway pursuit, Tan said. The officer didn't return fire and no one was struck.

"As is the protocol, we turned the pursuit over to the California Highway Patrol" and the CHP stopped and arrested the suspect in Fairfield, Tan said.

"There was evidence of a firearm in the vehicle," he added.

Richmond officers asked the CHP to close the freeway so they could search for evidence, and the CHP shut down all eastbound lanes around 6:30 a.m.

"We were able to retrieve a significant amount of evidence that confirms that a firearm was involved," Tan said. The evidence included pieces of a firearm, he said.

The investigation of the case isn't done yet and the suspect's name and the crimes of which he is suspected haven't been released, according to Tan.

The freeway re-opened at about 8 a.m., according to the CHP.

— Bay City News; Image by Renee Schiavone, Patch