Crime

California Highway Patrol Shoot, Kill Man in East Oakland in Latest Local Incidence of Police Brutality

Published

6 years ago

June 11, 2020

Erik Salgado

As calls to defund the police intensified nationwide, protestors demanded justice this week for Erik Salgado, 23, a Hispanic man shot and killed in East Oakland by California Highway Patrol officers on Saturday night after officers fired dozens of rounds at the car he was driving. Salgado’s pregnant girlfriend, Brianna Colombo, also 23, was injured in the shooting and is hospitalized.

Community members marched to demand justice for Salgado near the site of the shooting on the 9600 block of Cherry Street on Monday, led by members of Salgado’s family. The shooting came as calls for police accountability in Oakland and around the country have intensified.

Neighbors who witnessed the shooting said that around 10:30 p.m., the car Salgado was in was stopped and was blocked on both sides by multiple CHP trucks. Independent journalist Shane Baurer spoke to multiple neighbors who told him that after his Salgado’s car was boxed in, Salgado revved the engine and began spinning the tires. “When the engine popped,” Bauer reported, police opened fire. Neighbors described officers firing around 40 shots at the vehicle.

Video indicates that police did not attempt to offer first aid to Colombo until five minutes after the shooting. Two hours after it occurred, video shows Colombo still on site – having yet to be transported to the hospital – despite being pregnant and injured.

In a statement released Tuesday, the Oakland Police Department, which is conducting an investigation into whether CHP officers violated the law or protocol when they shot Salgado, released a statement saying that Salgado “began ramming CHP vehicles” after officers tried to conduct the traffic stop.

A spokesman for the San Leandro Police Department said that the Dodge Hellcat Salgado was driving had been taken from a San Leandro car dealership that was looted during earlier protests. He said the police department did not know if Salgado was the one who stole the vehicle, however.

“What I want to know is why they had to take him out, why they had to use 46 shots, why they couldn’t pull him out and arrest him,” Salgado’s stepfather, Fahid Majail, said after the shooting.

In a short statement from Mayor Libby Schaaf said the city was “committed to conducting a rigorous and transparent investigation” of the shooting. Little other information has been released by law enforcement.

Family, friends, and neighbors created a shrine to honor Salgado near the site of the shooting. At the protest on Monday, speakers also railed against the violent treatment of protesters by OPD at protests in response to the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others. Activists in Oakland have joined the national call to defund the police.

Brandon Patterson

Posts by Brandon Patterson

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of December 24 – 30, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – December 24 – 30, 2025

Published

4 days ago

December 25, 2025

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Alameda County

Oakland Council Expands Citywide Security Cameras Despite Major Opposition

In a 7-1 vote in favor of the contract, with only District 3 Councilmember Carroll Fife voting no, the Council agreed to maintain its existing network of 291 cameras and add 40 new “pan-tilt-zoom cameras.”

Published

1 week ago

December 21, 2025

Oakland Post

At the International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference, Flock Safety introduces new public safety technology – Amplified Intelligence, a suite of AI-powered tools designed to improve law enforcement investigations. Courtesy photo.

By Post Staff

The Oakland City Council this week approved a $2.25 million contract with Flock Safety for a mass surveillance network of hundreds of security cameras to track vehicles in the city.

In recent weeks hundreds of local residents have spoken against the camera system, raising concerns that data will be shared with immigration authorities and other federal agencies at a time when mass surveillance is growing across the country with little regard for individual rights.

The Flock network, supported by the Oakland Police Department, has the backing of residents and councilmembers who see it as an important tool to protect public safety.

“This system makes the Department more efficient as it allows for information related to disruptive/violent criminal activities to be captured … and allows for precise and focused enforcement,” OPD wrote in its proposal to City Council.

According to OPD, police made 232 arrests using data from Flock cameras between July 2024 and November of this year.

Based on the data, police say they recovered 68 guns, and utilizing the countywide system, they have found 1,100 stolen vehicles.

However, Flock’s cameras cast a wide net. The company’s cameras in Oakland last month captured license plate numbers and other information from about 1.4 million vehicles.

Speaking at Tuesday’s Council meeting, Fife was critical of her colleagues for signing a contract with a company that has been in the national spotlight for sharing data with federal agencies.

Flock’s cameras – which are automated license plate readers – have been used in tracking people who have had abortions, monitoring protesters, and aiding in deportation roundups.

“I don’t know how we get up and have several press conferences talking about how we are supportive of a sanctuary city status but then use a vendor that has been shown to have a direct relationship with (the U.S.) Border Control,” she said. “It doesn’t make sense to me.”

Several councilmembers who voted in favor of the contract said they supported the deal as long as some safeguards were written into the Council’s resolution.

“We’re not aiming for perfection,” said District 1 Councilmember Zac Unger. “This is not Orwellian facial recognition technology — that’s prohibited in Oakland. The road forward here is to add as many amendments as we can.”

Amendments passed by the Council prohibit OPD from sharing camera data with any other agencies for the purpose of “criminalizing reproductive or gender affirming healthcare” or for federal immigration enforcement. California state law also prohibits the sharing of license plate reader data with the federal government, and because Oakland’s sanctuary city status, OPD is not allowed to cooperate with immigration authorities.

A former member of Oakland’s Privacy Advisory Commission has sued OPD, alleging that it has violated its own rules around data sharing.

So far, OPD has shared Flock data with 50 other law enforcement agencies.