Road rage shooting on Highway 80 in Pinole injures 1; suspect arrested
A road rage incident on Interstate Highway 80 in Pinole earlier this month culminated in a shooting on an offramp that severely injured one person, police said Friday. A suspect was arrested.
Pinole police said the incident happened on Dec. 9 at about 7:40 p.m. Dispatchers received a report about a shooting on the highway and that the involved vehicles exited at Appian Way. Shortly after, Kaiser Permanente hospital in Richmond reported a gunshot victim arrived at the emergency room and told the staff he had been shot in Pinole, police said.
Officers determined from witness statements that the incident began as road rage on the Appian Way offramp from eastbound I-80. The incident continued onto Appian Way and ended at Fitzgerald Drive with the driver from one vehicle shooting a passenger inside the other vehicle, police said.
The victim's girlfriend drove him to Kaiser Richmond where he was initially listed in critical condition, police said. The 24-year-old victim remains hospitalized in stable condition.
Investigators discovered the shooting had been captured on local surveillance cameras and detectives were able to use the footage to identify the suspect vehicle and share with other law enforcement agencies. On Dec. 10, Richmond police officers found the vehicle and took the suspect into custody.
He was identified as 25-year-old Otis Keller of Richmond. Police said Keller was interviewed and provided a statement consistent with witnesses' accounts. He was arrested on an attempted murder charge and was being held at the Martinez Detention Facility on $1.25 million bail.
On Dec. 12, detectives executing a search warrant at Keller's home found evidence of the crime and seized several firearms, police said. The case was presented to the Contra Costa District Attorney's Office for review and aside from the attempted murder charge, Keller also faces charges of shooting at an occupied vehicle, discharging a firearm resulting in great bodily injury, and possession of an assault weapon.
Police said the investigation was ongoing and additional weapons charges were being considered.
Anyone who may have witnessed the incident was encouraged to contact the Pinole Police Department's Criminal Investigations Division at 510-724-1111 or via email at investigations@pinole.gov.
