It happened on Grove Way and Center Street. The Alameda County Sheriff's Department is saying that a suspect backed into an undercover officer as he tried to make a vehicle stop. They say the suspect may have used his car as a weapon. So far they have not found a gun in the suspect's car.
It all started when several Berkeley police officers were following up on a criminal investigation and were tailing the suspect. At 5 p.m. they did a vehicle stop.
"They are in an unmarked car, so it looks like maybe they came out of their car, somehow engaged the suspect, and somehow during that time the officer got pinned between the two cars. At that time, his partner fired at the suspect," said Alameda County Sgt. J.D. Nelson.
The sheriff's department says the suspect was shot while still in the driver's seat and he was taken to Eden's trauma unit. The Berkeley police officer was hospitalized at Highland Hospital with severe hand and leg injuries.
Eraina Swift says she is the suspect's ex-girlfriend and she is shocked by the shooting.
"All I know is they were following him from Berkeley, that's all I know, and I don't know why they shot him because he's not a violent person, he's not. He doesn't carry guns or anything like that, so why they would shoot him is beyond me," said Swift.
Berkeley police are not commenting on why they stopped the car at the intersection or why the officer was standing between the vehicles.
The investigation continued at 11 p.m. with the crime lab, dozens of officers, the district attorney's office all on the scene collecting evidence.
