Police aim more cameras at Bay Area freeways following string of deadly shootings

Police departments in the East Bay and the California Highway Patrol have teamed up to try and stop a wave of suspected gang shootings on Bay Area freeways that have left four dead and nearly a dozen wounded since November, authorities said.

The latest shooting occurred Sunday afternoon, when authorities say gunmen in separate cars began firing at each other in Antioch and took the gunfight onto California 4, according to KGO. No one was reportedly injured, and the suspects were arrested.

In response to the string of shootings, the Pittsburg City Council on Monday unanimously approved spending $100,000 to install security cameras at street intersections in order to record activity on the highway.

On April 19, a fatal shooting on the highway occurred in Pittsburg city limits, the chief of police noted in requesting the funds.

Since November, there have been at least 19 shootings that have killed four people and injured 11 others, the CHP’s Golden Gate office announced on its Facebook page.

There have been three shootings on California 4, two each on U.S. 101, Interstate 580 and Interstate 880 and 10 shootings on Interstate 80, officials said.

“Evidence suggests these shootings appear to be gang-related, with different gangs involved,” the CHP said. “We have no information to indicate that the public is being targeted at random.”

In several of the shootings, the shooters followed their targets onto the freeway and opened fire on them there, Pittsburg’s police chief said.

The CHP said it was working with Contra Costa County officials, the FBI and the Richmond Police Department, among other agencies, to investigate the incidents. Authorities have also increased patrols on Interstate 80, the CHP said.

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