ALAMEDA, Calif. — Two people were injured after law enforcement officers fired shots at a U-Haul truck that backed into the U.S. Coast Guard base in Alameda, which had earlier been the site of protests against federal immigration agents, and hours after President Donald Trump called off a planned surge of federal agents into San Francisco to quell crime.
LIVE UPDATES: Shots fired at truck outside Alameda Coast Guard Station amid protest activity
The shots were fired about 10 p.m. Thursday at the base in Alameda, the Coast Guard posted on X. The vehicle drove away and no Coast Guard personnel were hurt, the statement said.
The Department of Homeland Security released as statement saying that the truck driver and a bystander were injured. The truck driver was shot in the stomach and is being held for mental health evaluation. The bystander was hit by a fragment, treated at the hospital, and released.
The U-Haul truck driver has been released from the hospital and is now in custody, according to the FBI.
Video from the scene shows the U-Haul truck trying to back into the base.
“Coast Guard personnel issued multiple verbal commands to stop the vehicle, the driver failed to comply and proceeded to put the vehicle in reverse,” the Coast Guard statement said. “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 FBI is leading the investigation and says it was an isolated incident and there is no danger to the public.
ABC7 News spoke with a protester who was on the scene and saw what happened, saying the driver was a lone actor.
“None of the protesters know the driver, we don’t know the name, we don’t know where he went,” he told ABC7 News. “And then after that, we tried to let the Coast Guard know that we were peaceful. They weren’t really talking back to us. They were just telling us not to go onto the bridge.”
Earlier Thursday, protesters had assembled at the island, with many singing hymns and carrying signs saying, “Protect our neighbors” and “No ICE or troops in the Bay.”
Trump had been threatening to send the National Guard to San Francisco, a move Mayor Daniel Lurie and Gov. Gavin Newsom said was unnecessary because crime is on the decline. Separately, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents began arriving at the Coast Guard base in the region earlier Thursday for a possible ramp up of immigration enforcement, a move that drew several hundred protesters.
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Trump said he called off the move after speaking to the mayor and several prominent business leaders who said they’re working hard to clean up the city.
Coast Guard Island is a 67-acre, human-made island formed in 1913 in the Oakland Estuary between Oakland and Alameda. It is federally owned, does not allow visits from the general public without an escort or specific government identification, and it has been home to the current base, Base Alameda, since 2012, according to a Coast Guard document from 2016.
Base Alameda provides a variety of services for Coast Guard activities throughout the West Coast.
Kris Ness was there when it happened and says the driver acted alone.
“None of the protesters know the driver. We don’t know the name. We don’t know where he went. And after that we tried to let the Coast Guard know that we were peaceful,” Ness said.
Outside the base Friday, protests were much calmer, despite a few tense moments.
Many told us Thursday’s incident wasn’t a reflection of their message.
“I think what happened yesterday is a bad example of what we’re out here doing. It kind of undercuts our policy of a peaceful protest,” said a protester named Matthew.
At one point Friday morning, an elderly woman tried to get onto the base’s pharmacy to pick up medication.
Coast Guard officials fired non-lethal projectiles at her vehicle but then stopped as protesters yelled that she was not with them.
The experience leaving the woman visibly shaken as she turned around to leave.
“This is my community. These are my people. I would regret everything if I didn’t show up out here and do something,” said a protester named Rose.
The immigration operation that initially spurred the protests has been called off.
But protesters say they’re not leaving until federal officials do.
“There’s still 100 feds out there. There’s still 100 feds and now there’s Coast Guard out here guarding this bridge when they should have a job.”
ABC7 News contributed to this story.
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