Increasing number of Bay Area freeway shootings putting drivers on edge
OAKLAND -- With the California Highway Patrol reporting that officers have responded to more than 435 freeway shootings in the Bay Area since January 2020, the rising number of incidents is scaring the driving public.
"Our home backs up to I-580, so it's our main thoroughfare. We're on it constantly. And it is now a thought that I have every single time I get on the freeway," said Oakland resident Leighann Cabell.
She and her husband Alonzo Cabell said they now avoid the freeways if possible. They drove on city streets on Friday afternoon to take their granddaughter to the park. Alonzo explained his attitude when driving used to be different.
"When I was younger, I used to honk more when someone cut me off or speed up to try to look over and get eye contact. And now I just let people go about their day. I just don't want to cause any conflict because you never know," he said.
"Not only would we not honk, we don't even look, we don't even look to see who might have passed us," added Leighann Cabell.
One freeway shooting survivor told KPIX 5 she now drives mostly in the slow lanes on the freeway. We're protecting her identity because her case is still open.
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"I signaled. I looked over my shoulder before I changed lanes. I quote unquote did all the right things, right? But that split second decision to still proceed with the lane change ended up nearly costing me my life. I mean, this person hunted me for close to a minute, dodging traffic to catch up just so that he could pull into the shoulder and shoot at me and try to kill me," said the survivor, a woman in her 30s.
The CHP called her case a road rage incident. Multiple bullets hit her car. One shot struck her right leg.
It happened on July 14 on I-280 in San Francisco, the same day 8-year-old Asa was paralyzed by a stray bullet on I-580 in Oakland. Investigators said the two cases are not connected.
ALSO READ: Parents detail serious injuries suffered by boy hurt in Oakland freeway shooting
"I'll be thinking about him every day. I'm lucky to be alive. His outcome is so different," said the shooting survivor.
Many drivers like the Cabell's said given how dangerous freeways have turned into, they now support the installation of freeway cameras.
"The circumstances are starting to make people consider giving up privacy rights. Because I used to be, 'more cameras are more trouble.' But now it's like more cameras could help solve a shooting or murder," said Alonzo Cabell.
ALSO READ: Possible road rage shooting on Highway 80 in Richmond damages vehicle
The CHP said no arrests in the two July 14 freeway shootings. They're asking witnesses with dashcam videos and Tesla drivers who saw the shootings to come forward because Tesla's have built-in cameras.
