17-year-old wounded in freeway shooting

A 17-year-old boy was shot on a South Bay highway Thursday night, the latest in an increasingly troubling series of similar incidents that authorities are having a tough time solving.

A teenager was wounded in San Jose on Highway 101 near Story Road just before 7 p.m. in a shooting that, like many of the others, was suspected to be targeted and gang-related, according to the California Highway Patrol. The victim was taken to the hospital.

No arrests were made in the case, and CHP officials were seeking two suspects.

At a news conference Friday, authorities outlined what they’re doing about the spate of shootings — which have been steadily on the rise since at least November 2015.

There have been 19 shootings on highways across the Bay Area in 2017 alone, a number on pace to exceed the 55 recorded throughout 2016, said Chief Paul Fontana of the CHP’s Golden Gate division.

“The level of violence on our freeways and highways is unacceptable,” Fontana said. “People need to feel safe.”

In Contra Costa County, where the bulk of the shootings occur, District Attorney Mark Peterson said seven of the 19 Bay Area freeway shootings this year have happened there, leaving three wounded and two dead.

There have been some signs of progress. On Friday morning, a suspect from a May 2016 shooting on Interstate 580 in Richmond was arrested, Fontana said.

Since November 2015, 17 suspects have been arrested in Bay Area freeway shootings, Fontana said. In Contra Costa County, there were 36 shootings over the same period, injuring 21 and killing eight, Peterson said.

Officers hope that cameras installed along highways, either with license-plate-reading technology or without, will help them make arrests. But in Pittsburg, which posted cameras along Highway 4, police have not notched any arrests because of them, said Officer John Fransen, a spokesman for the CHP’s Golden Gate Division.

Officials would like to instal more cameras on highways, Peterson said, but don’t have the money. Installing additional cameras along Highway 4 would cost $800,000, he said, adding that funding from his office and other local agencies came up “hundreds of thousands of dollars” short.

Peterson also said prosecutors were looking into charging as adults two juveniles arrested in the fatal March 9 shooting on Interstate 80 of 24-year-old Pinole resident Demarcus Doss. A third adult suspect was also arrested and charged in the crime.