Shooting suspect dies following police standoff that closed I-80 in Bay Area Friday
Interstate 80 in the San Francisco Bay Area was closed in both directions Friday afternoon due to a standoff between police and a potentially armed suspect who was ultimately killed in a police shooting, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The closure in Fairfield, in Solano County, ended after the suspect was killed by police on the scene, CHP Officer David deRutte told USA TODAY. All lanes were reopened after the stand off caused backups for miles in both directions.
The incident began about 11 a.m. local time Friday when a driver shot at someone along Highway 101 in Santa Rosa, about 65 miles north of San Francisco.
A bullet struck a black SUV in Santa Rosa but nobody was injured, deRutte said.
Police chase emerges after vehicle found hours later
Police got the license plate number of the suspect vehicle, which police later found about 20 miles south in Rohnert Park, deRutte said.
The suspect took off around 3:08 p.m. leading to a police chase that spanned across Marin County and the East Bay.
"When we tried to contact him, he fled from there," deRutte said.
Police used spike strips to stop the driver, whose vehicle had a flat tire. The vehicle was halted around 4:30 p.m. but deRutte could not confirm what exactly stopped it.
The standoff between the suspect and police soon developed eastbound on I-80 near Fairfield, about 30 miles southeast of San Francisco. The standoff ended around 6:30 p.m. and lanes opened about 10 minutes later.