Security personnel guarding Coast Guard Base Alameda in Oakland, California, were forced to open fire on a U-Haul truck being driven erratically on Thursday night after it attempted to back up a ramp and into the base.
A U.S. Coast Guard spokesperson said the incident took place at approximately 10 p. m. PST after a day of protests outside the island base on the Oakland Estuary and that its law enforcement officers had been forced to act after the driver had failed to respond to shouted instructions to stop.
“Coast Guard personnel issued multiple verbal commands to stop the vehicle, the driver failed to comply and proceeded to put the vehicle in reverse,” spokesperson SondraKay Kneen said.
“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 live fire.”
No members of the Coast Guard were injured in the episode, she said, adding that no further information about the driver is available at present and that the FBI is currently investigating in collaboration with its local partners.
A KPIX photographer, Rick Villaroman, was at the scene and shot video of the truck’s movements, according to CBS News.
He said the vehicle had been at the scene for most of the day before the driver, visible wearing sunglasses and a surgical mask, suddenly began reversing it toward officers defending the base’s entrance gate at speed.
“He just hit the gas and sped towards them,” Villaroman said. “And that’s when they opened fire. About 20 to 30 rounds.”
After fleeing, according to the witness: “The driver of the U-Haul came back, parked it down this street here, and walked out and left.” Villaroman said he subsequently inspected the truck and saw that it was riddled with bullet holes but there were no traces of blood.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents had begun arriving at the base early on Thursday, which is situated on a century-old, 67-acre artificial land mass in the estuary known as Coast Guard Island.
The federal agents were met by protesters opposing President Donald Trump’s crackdown on undocumented migrants, who attempted to block the sole access route to the island and bore signs that read “No ICE troops in the Bay!” and “Oakland Stands United Against Hate.”
At least two people were arrested, flash bangs and smoke grenades were reportedly thrown as part of the attempt to disperse the crowd and a church pastor said he was struck by a piece of shrapnel or a projectile during the melee.
“I obviously was shot with whatever that Border Patrol had,” the minister, Jorge Bautista, told CBS. “And I came to say we came in peace, and he didn’t care. There's nothing else to say – he wanted to cause harm to me.
“It’s clear that we’re here to be on the side of love. Because it is our responsibility to express love and be on the side of peace and to make sure that no families are being harassed and threatened with their lives.”
Trump later announced on Truth Social that he was suspending planned immigration raids in the Bay Area city after a conversation with San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, saying he had given Lurie “a chance to see if he can turn it around” in reference to an urban crime problem the mayor has said is non-existent.
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