BENICIA: Arrests Made in Shooting on I-780 Freeway in Benicia
A large police presence following a police shooting which shut down traffic on the 780 Freeway at Military West in Benicia on Friday, March 15th around 9:45 PM. Initial reports on police scanners indicated a police officer may have been shot, but the Benicia Police Department confirmed no officers were injured.
At 9:22 PM, Benicia police officers made a traffic stop based on an alert from an Automated License Plate reader, according to Benicia Police. Shots were fired from the suspect vehicle and officers returned fire. Two people have been taken into custody and officers were searching for a possible third suspect for several hours.
At 1:15 AM, Benicia Police said they reviewed body camera footage and confirmed there were only two suspects in the vehicle and both were in custody. I-780 re-opened at 4:39 AM on Saturday.
A CHP helicopter circled the area for several hours. It was monitoring a suspect seen hiding in the bushes during the initial response.
Multiple law enforcement agencies responded with armored vehicles. Benicia PD, Vallejo PD, Fairfield PD, Vacaville PD and Richmond PD were among agencies on scene.
At least 20+ police and sheriff passed including an armored swat unit. Eastbound Traffic is being forced off at exit 3A pic.twitter.com/N4TzB6R679
— lanternhal.bsky.social (@sonicpanda) March 16, 2024
Initial details of the call are not clear as of this writing. At one point, approximately six gun shots were reported and there were possibly up to three suspects who fled police, according to police scanner activity. It’s unclear when these shots were fired and it appears the Benicia Police Department was the initial agency involved.
Around 10:30 PM, officers had taken two people into custody and were searching for an additional female suspect. It was later determined there was no third suspect.
The two suspects arrested during the incident are a 33 year-old, and 39 year-old males from Vallejo, according to Benicia Police.
The incident shut down I-780 between Columbus Parkway and South Hampton Road for several hours into Saturday morning.
All Solano will never report information during active events which may jeopardize the safety of first responders.
