OAKLAND — A driver fleeing a car stop in the Eastlake district Friday morning, who police allege was dragging one officer and had pinned another against a parked vehicle, was shot and wounded by one of the officers.
The driver — a 21-year-old man from the Sacramento area — and the officers were all hospitalized in stable condition, authorities said. The two officers have since been released, though the medical status of the driver remained unclear late Friday afternoon.
The incident marked the third instance in a 22-hour span of Oakland police officers being injured while responding to reported crime in the city, Oakland police Interim Chief James Beere said at a news conference Friday afternoon.
“If you come to this city and commit crimes, we will arrest you,” said Beere, adding that “use of force is something we never want to take lightly or resort to, but our officers have a right to defend themselves.”
The shooting happened about 3:15 a.m. in the 1200 block of 9th Avenue, near the intersection of International Boulevard.
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According to police, officers made a traffic stop on a white car; during the stop, a firearm could be seen inside the vehicle. The driver accelerated to get away. When the vehicle took off, it dragged one of the officers with it and pinned another against a parked vehicle, police said.
The pinned officer was able to fire a single shot and wound the driver before the vehicle crashed. Police have not said where the man was hit.
Officers provided emergency first aid to the driver before paramedics arrived at the scene and he was taken to a hospital, authorities said.
The two officers also were hospitalized. The nature of their injuries was not immediately known. They have been placed on administrative leave.
A massive police presence remained at the intersection past 7:30 a.m., and police closed International Boulevard between 8th Avenue and 10th Avenue.
Beere said the incident followed two other recent instances of officers being injured on the job. At about 5:30 a.m. Thursday, officers confronted six catalytic converter thieves on the 400 block of Perkins Street. The assailants repeatedly rammed their vehicle into a police cruiser, Beere said.
About 12 hours later, a man “violently resisted” an officer while being arrested during an arson investigation on the 200 block of 24th Street, Beere said. The officer was later treated and released from a hospital.
The early Friday morning shooting came less than two weeks after Oakland police officers fatally shot a man in the 1800 block of 89th Avenue. Police said that man allegedly had been pointing a gun at residents in the area and was shot by officers after pointing the gun at them. Police have not identified the officers or released any body-cam video in that shooting.
The Friday shooting is being investigated by the police homicide section and internal affairs division, the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office and the city’s Community Police Review Agency.
Friday’s shooting was at least the sixth involving Oakland police officers since February of 2023.
In January of 2025, a man who had been firing a rifle in the 6600 block of MacArthur Boulevard was shot and wounded by a sergeant. In April 2024, a man wanted in a Sacramento homicide who was allegedly armed with a pistol was fatally shot by Oakland officers in the 1000 block of 16th Street.
In November of 2023, a police sergeant fatally shot a man in the area of 16th Street and San Pablo Avenue after the man allegedly fired shots at him. In February of 2023, an armed carjacking suspect was shot and wounded by an officer in the area of 105th Avenue and International Boulevard.