Barrage Of Gunfire Narrowly Misses Officers On Patrol In East Palo Alto
PALO ALTO (CBS SF) -- Two East Palo Alto police officers escaped injury when at least one person shot at them early Thursday morning, police said.
The officers were patrolling the area of Oakwood Drive and Palo Verde Avenue near Cesar Chavez Elementary School around 2:15 a.m. when they responded to a report of multiple gunshots fired in the area.
One of those shots went through Cassandra Julian's house, and she described the event to KPIX 5 reporter Joe Vazquez.
"[It went] throught the window, through the curtain all the way through to here. My son ... was sitting here, so he ducked down when it happened. This wall [is] where it ended up," Julian said.
While searching the area, someone opened fire on the officers, one of whom took cover behind a car.
As officer Angel Sanchez described it, "At that point we didn't know where the gunfire was coming from. So we went in there and basically extracted [the officer] out of the scene with our patrol vehicles and a team of officers."
Judging from where they found bullet casings, investigators say it's possible the gunman was shooting at the officers from right in the middle of the street. Neighbors told KPIX that gunfire is common here.
"This is crazy! People are just shooting just to shoot. It's meaningless. Don't shoot at the cops, don't shoot at each other. There's got to be a better way to handle stuff," Cassandra Julian said.
Police identified the house involved in the incident and detained eight people there. Police Sgt. Jeff Liu said police are still investigating the case have not released any names of possible suspects.
East Palo Alto police are encouraging anyone who may have information about the shooting to call them at (650) 321-1112 or an anonymous tip line at (650) 409-6792.
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