Police standoff on I-80 in Fairfield ends when suspect shoots self; critically injured
FAIRFIELD -- Interstate 80 was shut down in both directions in Fairfield for about three hours Friday by a police standoff with a freeway shooting suspect that ended when the suspect shot himself.
The driver of a silver Toyota sedan led police on a multi-county chase from the North Bay to the East Bay until the vehicle was stopped by a strip of spikes just east of I-80's interchange with Highway 12, California Highway Patrol Officer David deRutte said.
Aerial footage initially captured the vehicle as it was traveling through Richmond. Multiple police and CHP units followed the silver Toyota Corolla on eastbound I-80, passing through San Pablo, Hercules, Rodeo and Vallejo, slowing at times due to traffic.
CHP later confirmed the incident originated in 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.
A shot went through the back of a black SUV driven by a woman north of Hopper Avenue. The shooting didn't appear to have been provoked and seemed to be at random, deRutte said.
The woman, who wasn't injured, exited the highway and called 911 and described the shooter's vehicle, deRutte said.
The vehicle was located about 2 p.m. in the parking lot of a Rohnert Park shopping center with the driver inside. It got away as police attempted to close in.
The car fled south on U.S. 101 into Marin County, turned east on state Highway 37 before reversing course and returning to southbound U.S. 101 to Interstate 580.
At around 3:45 p.m., the car slowed down and came to a stop on the freeway at the Lopes Road overpass near Cordelia Junction that connects to I-680 in Fairfield. 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.
The Fairfield Police Department's SWAT team arrived on scene at around 5 p.m. and attempted to convince the suspect to surrender, according to 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.
CHP initially said the suspect had died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, but later revealed that he had been resuscitated and was in critical condition in a local hospital as of 11 p.m.
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 No. 1 and No. 2 lanes of eastbound I-80 reopened. Lanes 3-5 remained blocked for the police investigation. Motorists were advised to expect delay and to use alternate routes.
"People were rolling their windows down and saying ma'am, ma'am, do you know what is going on and I said I don't know," Colleen Knapp said. "Maybe CalTrans is working on the road and I keep asking Siri and she didn't have any answers for me."
Instead of waiting hours on the road for the traffic to move, Knapp decided to just wait it out on the side of the road.
"Unbelievable," she said. "This is not your typical Friday night."
The following Tuesday, the Solano County District Attorney's Office confirmed that the suspect remained in critical condition. The suspect has not be identified beyond authorities saying he was a 40-year-old male from Rohnert Park.
Andrea Nakano contributed reporting