Shots fired, driver hurt and held after truck rams into Coast Guard base in California

Authorities said that a truck driver who drove into a U.S. Coast Guard Base in the San Francisco Bay Area – the scene of previous demonstrations against federal immigration agents – was shot and injured by police officers, Friday.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced on X that the driver was being held for an evaluation of his mental health after “attempting weaponizing the vehicle in order to ram Coast Guard base Alameda” on Thursday night. The FBI confirmed that the driver had been taken into custody.

The Department of Homeland Security released a statement that said a bystander had been struck by “a fragment”, treated in a hospital, and then released. The statement did not provide any further details.

It said that no Coast Guard personnel was injured. The statement stated that officers had issued “multiple verbal orders” for the driver to stop. However, the driver did not comply and “suddenly accelerate backwards directly towards them at a high speed,” according to the statement.

The report stated that “when the vehicle’s actions presented a direct danger to the Coast Guard and security staff, law enforcement agents discharged multiple rounds of defensive live ammunition.”

The statement stated that the driver had been injured in the stomach, and it was expected that he would survive.

In a San Francisco statement, FBI spokesperson Cameron Polan said that the incident appeared to be isolated and that there was no current threat to public safety.

Other details have not been released.

A video from the scene appeared to show a UHaul truck trying back into the base.

In a press release, company spokesperson Jeff Lockridge stated that U-Haul was helping law enforcement meet their investigative needs.

Coast Guard Island, a 27-hectare (67-acre) island created by humans in 1913 between Oakland and Alameda in the Oakland Estuary, is federally owned. It does not allow visitors without an escort or specific government identification. According to a Coast Guard report from 2016, it is owned by the federal government, doesn’t allow visitors without an escort, and has housed Base Alameda since 2012.

Base Alameda offers a wide range of services to Coast Guard operations on the West Coast.

On Thursday morning, protesters gathered on the island. Many were singing hymns and holding signs that read “Protect Our Neighbors” and “No ICE, or troops, in the Bay,” which is a reference to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and National Guard.

A few hours earlier, Donald Trump had cancelled a planned surge federal agents to San Francisco in order to curb crime. Mayor Daniel Lurie, Gov. Gavin Newsom stated that it is unnecessary, as crime has declined.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection began arriving earlier Thursday at the Coast Guard Base in the region for a potential increase of immigration enforcement. This move drew hundreds of protesters.

Trump has said that he is now backing off, after talking to Mayor and business leaders. They said they are working hard to clean the city.

Kristi Noem, the U.S. secretary of Homeland Security, said at a press conference held in Minneapolis on Friday that she discussed the incident in detail with President Trump. She suggested that he could reconsider his decision to hold off federal enforcement in the Bay Area in the event more violence occurred.

She said that if they don’t “figure out how to protect law enforcement officers, and our Coast Guard members,” we will be forced to step in and protect them.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement notified Alameda County sheriff Yesenia Sanchez of the cancellation of the operation for the entire Bay Area. This is a nine county region with about 8 million residents, according to Sgt. Roberto Morales is a spokesperson for the sheriff. He said on Friday.

This decision is in contrast to other decisions made by Trump, such as sending the military to Democratic-run cities despite fierce opposition from mayors and Governors.

Two courts in Washington, D.C., and West Virginia, challenged the deployment on National Guard troops, while a judge in Portland Oregon was deciding whether or not to allow Trump to deploy troops in that city. The deployment of National Guard troops in the Chicago region remains blocked.

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Contributors included Associated Press writers Olga R. Rodriguez from San Francisco and Audrey McAvoy from Honolulu.

Source:https://apnews.com/article/coast-guard-island-shooting-alameda-uhaul-immigration-93d298073ab85528cad3a95f5faa2d4c

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