By Robert Salonga and Matthias Gafni
Vallejo Times Herald
VALLEJO, Calif. — A California Highway Patrol officer was critically injured and a person suspected of shooting him was killed in a traffic-stop shootout Tuesday morning on a San Ramon Valley freeway, sparking a daylong road closure and drawing dozens of officers to the hospital to keep vigil over their downed comrade.
The officer had made contact with the suspect about 8:20 a.m. near the Livorna Road offramp from southbound Interstate 680 when the suspect suddenly opened fire, officials said. Another CHP officer, who had joined the traffic stop in a standard safety procedure, then shot and wounded the suspect.
Passers-by flooded the CHP switchboard with 911 calls about the shooting at the same time the call of “officer down” was radioed in. Both the suspect and the injured officer were rushed to John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek with critical injuries.
The suspect died at the hospital, according to Contra Costa Sheriff’s spokesman Jimmy Lee. The suspect has not been identified pending notification of relatives.
The unidentified CHP officer was making a traffic stop on a Jeep on southbound I-680, just north of Livorna. Lee said he was not aware of any warrants in the suspect’s name.
The officer had stopped in front of the suspect’s car and approached the suspect on the driver’s side, Lee said. Typically, an officer on a stop would park behind a suspect vehicle and approach from the passenger’s side, though there may have been special circumstances that forced a change in procedure, a law enforcement expert said.
“The driver pulled out a gun and shot at the officer, severely injuring him,” Lee said. Police sources have said the officer was shot in the neck, though neither Lee nor McDermott would confirm that detail.
A backup officer who had also responded to the stop — parking behind the suspect’s car — then approached the vehicle from the rear passenger side, fired into the vehicle and wounded the driver, Lee said.
The second CHP officer aided the injured officer until emergency medical crews arrived.
Authorities did not reveal additional information about the wounded officer other than that he is based out of the Contra Costa area field office in Martinez. McDermott said he graduated from the academy in 2005 and was assigned to the Contra Costa office immediately after graduation. He worked in another office for a time before returning, although specific details weren’t available.
Copyright 2012 The Times-Herald