Amazon big rig driver shot while driving on I-5 in Lathrop has died
LATHROP -- An Amazon truck driver is now dead after being shot on I-5 Thursday.
The shooting sent the big rig off the freeway and into parked cars at a nearby business before it crashed into a building.
Just before 1 p.m., an Amazon big rig was traveling northbound on I-5 between Highway 120 and E. Louise Avenue in Lathrop when it left the freeway, crashed into two other vehicles, and then crashed into a building.
The driver of the big rig was transported to the hospital with unknown injuries. CHP confirmed that when law enforcement got to the scene, the driver had a gunshot wound.
After the crash, witnesses called authorities to say they may have seen shots fired toward the big rig. Police radio outlines one witness's testimony, that the shooter was in the passenger seat of a car traveling in the same direction as the truck. CHP was able to confirm that multiple shots had been fired.
Northbound I-5 was closed at the Highway 120/Manteca Bypass for hours as investigators processed evidence. The westbound Highway 120 to northbound I-5 connector ramp was also closed. Traffic started flowing through the area again late Thursday afternoon and all lanes were back open by 8 p.m.
@madisenkeavy Amazon truck driver shot on I-5N, goes off the highway and into a car & building. No other injuries, but the 32 YO driver is hospitalized. #amazon #california #sanjoaquincounty #news #i5 #highway @CBS Sacramento
♬ original sound - madisenkeavy
Amazon spokesperson Alisa Carroll released a statement to CBS13 after learning about the incident and the driver's death:
Our thoughts are with his family during this difficult time. We're continuing to cooperate with law enforcement as they investigate the incident.
The driver has been identified by the San Joaquin County coroner as 37-year-old Ikhom Shodiev of Charlotte, North Carolina.
No information on the shooting suspect has been released, but CHP is urging potential witnesses to come forward.
We need your HELP If you were driving Northbound on I-5 between SR-120 and Louise Ave, between the hours of 12:30pm and 1:00pm and have a dash cam, we need your HELP. Any footage of this area during this time frame could be helpful and we would ask that you contact CHP Valley Division Investigative Services Unit (ISU) with any footage. If you were in the area and saw a big rig leave the roadway and crash into a building, please contact CHP ISU.
You can contact ISU at (916)731-6580 or CHP-Stockton at (209)938-4800 and ask for Officer Jones. NO TIP IS TOO SMALL
Guerrero's Tires is near where the Amazon truck crashed. An employee there, Xavier Parker-Guerrero, said he heard the loud crash.
"I saw them take him out of the truck…that was the first time I've seen someone taken out of a truck like that. It was bad," he said.
The big rig stopped just a few feet from his family's business, close enough that, "It could've been us," he said.
On June 24, CHP officers arrested 29-year-old Manteca resident Andrew Christopher Watson on suspicion of shooting and killing Ilkhom.
