New turn in hunt for suspect in NorCal cop shootings
FREMONT, Calif. -- Two Northern California police officers were shot Wednesday after a traffic stop turned violent, police said.
Early Thursday, word came of a major development in the hunt for the gunman:
Major update - the situation has changed, we now have a barricaded suspect. https://t.co/lbI5wuCA9K
— Fremont Police Dept (@FremontPD) June 2, 2016
Update: we have confirmed suspect contact inside a home. This is now an armed barricaded suspect. We have containment and are negotiating.
— ACSO (@ACSOSheriffs) June 2, 2016
Police said the home is in Fremont and the suspect was still armed.
CBS San Francisco station KPIX reported the officers were taken to nearby hospitals.
Police spokeswoman Geneva Bosques said one officer was in critical condition after undergoing surgery. That officer, a relatively new hire with just over a year of experience with the department, was shot shortly after the traffic stop.
The other officer, a detective with about 10 years of experience, was shot twice about 10 minutes later and was recovering in stable condition, Bosques said. Neither officers' name was released.
The incident started when the first officer stopped a white pickup truck in Fremont, which is about 40 miles south of San Francisco, Bosques said. The pickup truck backed up into the officer's patrol car, a person in the truck fired shots and the shooter and another suspect ran off.
Shortly after multiple law enforcement agencies flooded into the area, the detective was shot in a nearby neighborhood during a shootout with the suspect.
Investigators believe there might be a second suspect on the loose, but are concentrating their efforts on finding the shooter, Alameda County Sheriff's Department Sgt. Ray Kelly said. Kelly said his department has taken over tactical command of the scene while Fremont deals with its two fallen officers.
The gunman was described by multiple witnesses as a Hispanic man standing about six feet tall, bald and wearing a San Francisco Giants shirt, gray shorts and black shoes, Bosques said.
"This is obviously a very dangerous individual. He has already showed a propensity for violence and a willingness to hurt two police officers," Kelly said.