FAIRFIELD — A police pursuit of a shooting suspect through the East Bay on I-80 Friday afternoon came to a halt in Fairfield, starting an hours-long standoff that shut down the freeway in both directions before coming to a grim end.
Aerial footage initially captured the vehicle as it was traveling through Richmond. Multiple police and CHP units followed the silver Toyota Corolla being driven by an alleged shooting suspect on eastbound I-80, passing through San Pablo, Hercules, Rodeo and Vallejo, slowing at times due to traffic.
CHP later confirmed the incident originated out of the Santa Rosa area late Friday morning. At around 11 a.m., the suspect in the car shot at a black SUV while traveling southbound on U.S. Highway 101 in Windsor before traveling into Santa Rosa.
CHP said there was just damage to the vehicle’s window and caused no injuries, Authorities traced the vehicle license plate to the area of Rohnert Park. Officers spotted the vehicle in an area near the freeway and made contact with the driver before he sped away. at around 2 p.m.
The suspect went southbound on 101, traveling at 65-70 miles per hour, CHP said. Officers attempted to stop the vehicle with a spike strip in Petaluma, but the driver got away. The pursuit the moved from Marin County into the East Bay as the car traveled eastbound on Hwy 37 before turning around and going back to Hwy 101 and switching to eastbound I-580 to cross Richmond Bridge into Richmond.
At around 3:45 p.m., the car eventually slowed down and came to a stop on the freeway at the Lopes Road overpass near the Cordelia Junction that connects to I-680 in Fairfield. It appeared authorities were able to lay spike strips down that the suspect drove over.
Authorities stopped both eastbound and westbound traffic on I-80, with traffic detoured off the freeway to get around the incident. The northbound I-680 transition to eastbound and westbound I-80 was also closed. Westbound I-80 traffic was diverted at Suisun Valley Road.
There were nine visible police units with open doors and officers with guns drawn on the freeway under the overpass. Authorities appeared to be in a standoff with the suspect.
The Fairfield Police Department’s SWAT team arrived on scene as of 5 p.m. and has since been trying to convince the suspect to surrender, said California Highway Patrol Officer Michael Barday.
A pair of armored SWAT vehicles converged on the Corolla at around 5:50 p.m., boxing the suspect vehicle in. Officers appeared to use some sort of gas device near the vehicle at around 6:18 p.m.
About 15 minutes later, about a dozen officers approached the vehicle and appeared to make a forced entry into one of the rear doors. A short time later, a male individual was pulled from the back seat on the driver’s side and appeared to be incapacitated.
Initially, there was no word from authorities as to what happened with the suspect. CHP later confirmed that the suspect fatally shot himself.
The Solano CHP office confirmed at 6:44 p.m. that westbound lanes of I-80 and the northbound I-680 transition to eastbound and westbound I-80 were both reopening.
Shortly after 7 p.m., the #1 and #2 lanes of eastbound I-80 reopened. Lanes 3-5 remained blocked for the police investigation. Motorists are advised to expect delay and to use alternate routes. There is no estimated time of reopening the remaining lanes.