Oakland police investigate state patrolmen’s fatal shooting of a man who allegedly rammed their car

Investigators are looking into the California Highway Patrol’s fatal shooting of a 23-year-old man during a traffic stop, the Oakland Police Department said.

Three CHP officers opened fire on Erik Salgado on Saturday evening in East Oakland, and a woman who was in the vehicle with Salgado was also shot and injured, police say.

The incident comes amid heightened awareness of police conduct and mass protests following the death of George Floyd in custody in Minneapolis. Protesters in Oakland also have marched to decry Salgado’s killing.

Though Oakland police are leading the probe, no Oakland officers were involved, police say.

Salgado was allegedly driving a Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat recklessly through an area where CHP officers were conducting a follow-up investigation to an unrelated shooting from the night before, Oakland police said in a news release.

The officers discovered that the license plate did not match the Challenger that Salgado was driving, the release said.

Officers stopped the Challenger, the news release said, and the driver began ramming CHP vehicles. CHP officers fired their guns toward the driver, according to the release.

Salgado was hit multiple times and died. His passenger is hospitalized in stable condition, the news release adds. It did not divulge her name.

“The driver sustained multiple gunshot wounds and later succumbed to his injuries,” the release said.

Investigators allege that the car Salgado was driving is one of 74 vehicles reported stolen last week from a San Leandro automobile dealership, according to the news release.

“The City of Oakland is committed to conducting a rigorous and transparent investigation into this fatal shooting that occurred in our city,” Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said in a statement.

The CHP and Alameda County District Attorney’s Office are also conducting independent investigations, she said.

“It is our goal to be transparent and to provide information to our community without compromising the integrity of the investigation,” Schaaf said.

CNN has reached out to CHP for comment and to obtain body camera footage of the incident.