San Leandro officer shoots out of control driver in Oakland

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- In the East Bay Wednesday, a San Leandro police officer opened fire to stop a woman driving out of control. It happened in Oakland, on 105th Avenue, just across the San Leandro city line.

The San Leandro Police Department will conduct the internal investigation to determine if the officer followed policy when he opened fire and the Oakland Police Department will be the lead agency to investigate the incident since it happened in a part of Oakland.

In an area where neighbors say they see a lot of criminal activity, a San Leandro plain-clothes officer fired several shots at a woman driving a Honda after it rammed his white pickup truck.

"The area where this officer-involved shooting took place is at a dead-end street," Oakland police spokesperson Officer Johnna Watson said.

It happened just across the Oakland border where San Leandro cops had arrested two burglary suspects on Tuesday. At least 12 officers were back in the neighborhood on Wednesday making more arrests.

"One of the officers discovered a stolen vehicle. As they attempted to stop the stolen vehicle, the driver rammed into the officer's vehicle," Watson said.

The officer fired multiple shots into the car, wounding the driver who is believed to be in her 20's. Police chased down the male passenger after he ran off.

Nearby, Lionel Wilson College Prep is a few blocks away, where the principal says the sound of gunshots are not uncommon. Michelle Cortez from the school said, "We immediately let families know what we know and we're always overly cautious."

Neighbor Jose Marin says his SUV recently got shot up after of a night of gunshots. He told ABC7 News, "I'm afraid of all this happening because my kids are growing up."

Police are still trying to figure out if Wednesday's auto theft suspects have anything to do with the burglaries.

This is the third time since December that San Leandro police have opened fire on a female driver in a stolen car. The department says they are seeing a pattern in stolen car cases where male suspects are being driven by female accomplices.