Associated Press/Susan Walsh
- Police were called to a shooting between two vehicles on the Interstate 880 highway, Oakland.
- A stray bullet from the shooting hit a child, killing him.
- The child was Jasper Wu, aged 23-month-old. His family said was "smart and full of life."
A child was shot dead when his family car was caught in the crossfire of a gunfight on the freeway, police confirmed.
The family group was heading home to Fremont from San Francisco on Saturday afternoon when the tragic incident occurred, say police. A 911 caller reported a gunfight between two drivers on Interstate 880 in the city of Oakland, reported ABC7 News.
One of the bullets hit a white Lexus, driven by a family with three children.
Speaking to ABC7 News, the family confirmed the boy was Jasper Wu, 23-months-old, an only child, who they described as "smart and full of life."
He was shot in the head while he was sleeping in the backseat on the way home. His mother was driving, ABC7 News reported.
California Highway Patrol rushed him to Oakland Children's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, the CHP confirmed.
Sources told journalist Dion Lim, a reporter at KGO-TV San Francisco, that the shooting was gang-related.
-Dion Lim (@DionLimTV) November 7, 2021
In a press release, California Highway Patrol detectives said, "evidence collected on the northbound side of the freeway may indicate the victims were not targeted and the child passenger was struck by a stray bullet."