A toddler has reportedly been shot dead after a "stray" bullet fired on one side of a road hit him while he was in a car travelling in the opposite direction.
According to California Highways Patrol (CHP) officials in the US, quoted in the San Francisco Chronicle, the child was in a Toyota Lexus going southbound on Interstate 880 in Oakland yesterday (Saturday) afternoon.
The CHP reportedly received a report of the shooting at about 2.10pm, with a statement saying the victim's car "was suddenly struck by gunfire".
The Chronicle said: "A toddler in the Lexus was hit by a bullet and taken to Oakland Children’s Hospital, where the child later died, CHP officials said. The CHP said the child was three years old, but NBC Bay Area reported that family told the news agency that the boy was 23 months old. KRON [a news station] said the youngster's name was Jasper Wu and that he was travelling home to Fremont from San Francisco when he was hit."
An NBC reporter tweeted that it appeared the child's mother was driving the vehicle, and that no-one else in the car was injured.
Sergeant Raul Gonzalez told the SF Chronicle that detectives believe the shooting occurred on the northbound lanes and that “bullets travelled onto the southbound side and an errant bullet struck the child”, according to an initial, preliminary investigation.
The investigation reportedly temporarily blocked all northbound lanes of Interstate 880 in Oakland on Saturday afternoon. Detectives with the CHP’s Golden Gate Division Special Investigations Unit responded to the scene and were investigating the shooting, authorities said.
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