A man in his 20s, a teenaged girl, and 2-year-old child were all injured by gunfire Monday night as their vehicles were shot in an area that's been the site of at least four similar shootings in recent months.
Officers from the California Highway Patrol were called to Interstate 80 near the Richmond Parkway at 7:45 p.m. Monday night, on reports of a shooting. According to the CHP, a car that contained a family of five, with three children under the age of 10, was struck by gunfire as they drove on east on 80.
"At least one bullet struck the family's car entering through the passenger's window," ABC7 reports. "It traveled through the driver's side headrest, then out another window."
The family pulled off the freeway and into a gas station, where a witness told ABC7 that "I saw a car pull up, a woman got out rather quickly, very, very, very upset."
"She screamed that someone shot her. At first I thought she meant shot her herself. Then she started screaming about her children yelling please call the cops."
Though no one in the car was struck by the bullet, a 2-year-old child was cut by glass shattered by the shot. His injuries were minor enough that he "did not need to be taken to the hospital," ABC7 reports.
That family, however, wasn't the intended target of the shots. According to CHP officials, the folks that were being shot at were a man in his 20s and a teenaged girl, both of whom turned up at an area hospital later that evening with non-life threatening gunshot wounds.
Investigators who spoke with the Chron "said the shooting did not appear to be random and that the two older victims were likely the intended targets." The family, CHP officials say, were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
This stretch of 80 appears to be a popular one for gunfire:
- November 2: A man was shot on 80 near San Pablo Dam Road
- November 11: A man was fatally shot and a woman injured in a car-to-car shooting on 80 near near Pinole Valley Road
- November 24: A passenger in a car on 80 between the Ashby and University avenue exits was injured by flying glass when their car was shot
- December 17: Another car-to-car shooting on 80 near San Pablo Dam Road that injured a "targeted" driver of a black SUV (who, incidentally, fled to a nearby Denny's)
As of publication time, the CHP did not have any suspect or suspect vehicle information, nor did they share any details on a possible motive for the shooting. They ask that anyone with information on this or any of the other shootings contact their investigators at 707-551-4100.