The U.S. Coast Guard said Friday that guardsmen opened fire at a vehicle driving erratically near a California base that could serve as a staging area for federal immigration officers. No Coast Guard personnel were injured when the vehicle, a U-Haul truck, tried to back into Coast Guard Base Alameda near San Francisco.
The incident occurred around 10 p.m. PDT Thursday as security personnel stood watch on Coast Guard Island.
A Coast Guard statement says guardsmen issued multiple verbal commands telling the driver to stop the vehicle. However, the driver reportedly failed to comply and put the vehicle in reverse.
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The Coast Guard said the vehicle’s actions then posed a “direct threat to the safety of Coast Guard and security personnel,” so law enforcement officers “discharged several rounds of live fire.”
The incident occurred while protesters were demonstrating against a potential immigration crackdown, according to ABC7.
The Department of Homeland Security had said it would deploy agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection to the base before a major immigration-enforcement operation in the San Francisco area. However, President Donald Trump announced Thursday he was calling off the operation.
Were there injuries?
The Coast Guard did not share information on whether the driver or anyone nearby was injured.
However, the Mercury News reported that two men arrived at local hospitals with gunshot wounds. Sources told the news outlet that one of the individuals was the vehicle’s driver.
The FBI is investigating the incident, and the Coast Guard says it is coordinating with law enforcement partners.
