Officer-Involved Shooting On I-80 In Hercules Thursday

A confrontation on I-80 in Hercules led to an officer-involved shooting with a man suffering multiple gunshot wounds and an officer injured early Thursday morning.

Details remain scarce but things seemed to have kicked off at about 7:15a.m. with reports of a man hitting passing cars with some sort of a metal object on westbound I-80 near the Highway 4 junction in Hercules. The officer is believed to have contacted an individual at that location – opening fire when the man allegedly attacked the officer with some kind of metal object – believed to be a tire iron.

Investigators are saying that the suspect crashed a vehicle on I-80, then menacing other drivers with a tire iron,
a Richmond police detective on his way to work attempting to intervene and eventually opening fire on the suspect.

The suspect, believed to be in his 20s or 30s, was taken by ground ambulance to a local hospital with three gunshot wounds. The unidentified officer is reportedly being treated for cuts and abrasions suffered during the incident.

The area of the shooting remains largely closed for investigation.

Because the incident took place on an interstate highway, the California Highway Patrol has primary jurisdiction over the investigation. The California Attorney General’s Office will lead the legal investigation based on the specific circumstances of the incident. The Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office’s participation in the investigation is in accordance with the County’s Law Enforcement-Involved Fatal Incident protocol.