March 12--Authorities are searching for two gunmen who opened fire on a party bus early Saturday morning on a Bay Area freeway, injuring four passengers and closing a transition road for hours.
The shooting occurred as the bus, which was leaving San Francisco, exited the Bay Bridge in Oakland about 2:30 a.m., investigators said.
In what one California Highway Patrol officer called a "very curious" twist, the victims refused to cooperate with authorities. One victim kicked an officer and another forced her way out of an ambulance.
"This is a first for me," CHP Officer Daniel Hill said. "Most typically, law enforcement receives cooperation because the victims want justice ... In this case that's not happening."
Around 2:25 a.m., the driver of a party bus pulled off the freeway and contacted an officer who was performing a traffic stop, Hill said. The driver told the officer his bus had been involved in a freeway shooting.
The bus had been traveling east on Interstate 80 to the Interstate 880 transition road, when a red SUV with two suspects pulled up alongside the bus and opened fire, the CHP said in a statement. One person inside the bus sustained "critical injuries," but is expected to survive.
Three other occupants on the bus suffered "minor" injuries, the CHP said.
Although the driver provided some details about the suspects' vehicle and the number of shooters, none of the occupants of the bus would cooperate with law enforcement or provide statements, the CHP said.
"With respect to their level of noncooperation, it wasn't due to inebriation or intoxication," Hill said. "This is not a random incident ... This definitely appeared to be more of a targeted incident."
There were other people on the bus besides those who were injured, Hill said, but he did not know how many. He said all the people on the bus were coming from the same location, but did not provide the ages or genders of the victims.
Hill said the victim inside the ambulance was involved in "some sort of altercation" with medical personnel, which resulted in her being released. The woman's whereabouts are unknown, but her injuries were considered minor, the CHP statement said.
The CHP would not charge the person who kicked an officer, Hill added.
"Investigators are able to bring suspects in because of victims' statements and further investigation," Hill said. "It does really stymie an investigation when a victim refuses to provide any details."
Twitter: @ByMattStevens
