Truck driver shot by law enforcement after backing into Coast Guard base

Coast Guard security personnel “issued multiple verbal commands to stop the vehicle, [but] the driver failed to comply and proceeded to put the vehicle in reverse, suddenly accelerating backwards at a high rate of speed directly toward them,” according to a statement.

“When the vehicle’s actions posed a direct threat to the safety of Coast Guard and security personnel, law enforcement officers discharged several rounds of defensive live fire,” the statement continued.

“No Coast Guard personnel were injured during the incident. Two civilians were injured and are expected to survive. The truck driver was wounded in the stomach and is being held for mental health evaluation. A bystander was struck by a fragment, treated at a local hospital, and released,” the statement said.

The DHS X account attached a video of the incident, showing the vehicle backing up at high speed toward a line of officers who riddled it with fire, causing the driver to stop and speed off in the opposite direction.

The FBI is leading the investigation into the incident, sending evidence, crisis management, and bomb technician teams to the site of the crime.

“At this time, the incident appears to be isolated, and there is no known current threat to the public,” FBI spokesperson Cameron Polan in San Francisco said in a statement.

U-Haul spokesman Jeff Lockridge said the company cooperated with law enforcement in the investigation.

The incident occurred on Wednesday after an anonymous source with knowledge of the situation told the San Francisco Chronicle that 100 U.S. Customs and Border Protection and other agents would begin arriving at the Alameda Coast Guard base on Thursday. The Coast Guard confirmed this in a statement provided to the media.

The news immediately drew outrage from San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie and Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA). Protesters gathered earlier on Thursday to demonstrate outside the checkpoint guarding the island. The protests were largely peaceful, with the attempted truck ramming occurring hours after most of the protesters had dispersed.

In an unexpected move, President Donald Trump called off the deployment of the federal agents after a phone call with Mayor Lurie, who was supported by personal appeals from several mutual connections.

However, in a Friday press conference, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem suggested that Trump could change his mind following the attempted ramming.

“If leaders in San Francisco don’t figure out how to protect our law enforcement officers and protect our Coast Guard members, then we would be forced to come in and protect those individuals,” she said.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/crime/3863858/truck-driver-shot-by-law-enforcement-after-backing-into-coast-guard-base/