Personnel with the United States Coast Guard opened fire Thursday night on a U-Haul truck after the driver of the vehicle refused to comply with commands to halt at the entrance of a base located in California, the agency reported.A video of the incident shows the truck, with headlights blazing, reversing toward security officers stationed around a vehicle outside Coast Guard Base Alameda at 10 p.m.
A few moments later, guards fired at the truck as they shouted commands from a barricade. The driver put the vehicle in drive, stepped on the gas, and accelerated forward.
The guards said they saw the truck “driving erratically and attempting to back into the base.”
Officers guarding the entrance then “discharged several rounds of live fire” after the driver ignored “multiple verbal commands” to stop and started backing in toward the base entrance.
“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,” the agency went on to say in a statement.
Fortunately, no personnel were injured during the incident. The U-Haul was parked outside the base for most of the day. After the shooting, the driver fled the scene.
Two men showed up at area hospitals suffering from gunshot wounds after the shooting. One of the individuals is believed to be the driver of the U-Haul.
The incident followed a protest held outside the base entrance on Thursday, during which demonstrators tried to block U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents from entering.
California Highway Patrol officers, decked out in riot gear, attempted to disperse the crowd so civilian employees could leave. During the protest, two people were detained and led away from the scene.
On Thursday, President Donald Trump announced that his previously planned deployment of federal troops to San Francisco had been postponed after speaking with friends in the area who suggested that Mayor Daniel Lurie was making good progress in reducing crime.
Trump stated on Truth Social that he spoke to Lurie directly and both agreed to call off the move for the time being. The base was designated as a staging area for the troops.
The base, Coast Guard Island, is a man-made 67-acre island that was developed in 1913. The base is federally owned and does not allow general public visitors without an escort or government identification. It has served as the home for Base Alameda since 2012.
