Security personnel opened fire Thursday night at a U-Haul truck that had been backing up to the entrance to Coast Guard Island, where protesters spent the day rallying against the planned arrival of federal immigration agents.
Two men arrived at hospitals for treatment of gunshot wounds after the shooting, authorities confirmed to this news organization. One of them is believed to be the driver of the U-Haul, sources confirmed to this news organization. The identity of the second person was unclear.
The shooting happened around 10 p.m. on the bridge leading to the island. It was captured by camera crews for television stations KTVU and KPIX.
In the video, the rental truck can be seen backing up on the bridge, where several armed security personnel are blocking the road with their guns drawn and appear to be yelling orders at the vehicle’s driver. The few protesters present appear to be several hundred feet away.
Several security personnel can then be seen firing their weapons dozens of times at the truck. The vehicle drives forward — away from the barricade, back in the direction of the protesters and media — before stopping at the intersection of Embarcadero and Dennison Street.
On one video, the driver can be seen looking down toward their lap for more than 30 seconds, before they shift the vehicle into gear and calmly drive forward, out of view.
Law enforcement officials later located the vehicle, authorities confirmed. They did not say where it was found.
A statement from the Coast Guard early Friday said law enforcement officers fired “several” times at the U-Haul after the vehicle “posed a direct threat to the safety of Coast Guard and security personnel.” The statement added that the Coast Guard personnel “issued multiple verbal commands to stop the vehicle” before the shooting.
No Coast Guard personnel were injured in the incident, the statement said, and the FBI is leading the investigation into what happened.
The East Oakland entrance to the military installation — which marks the only way on or off of the island by car or truck — became the site of protests Thursday when federal agents arrived in the Bay Area as part of the next phase of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. After dawn, a squad of agents with U.S. Customs and Border Protection forced their way through a crowd of protesters at the island’s entrance, firing a chemical agent toward at least one protester in the process and pushing people out of the way with their vehicles.
The agents’ arrival and the protests began just hours before Trump announced that he was calling off a planned “surge” Saturday in San Francisco, which had previously been reported to involve more than 100 federal personnel. It remains unclear whether federal officials still plan to target other areas of the region in the coming days.
Not long after the gunfire Thursday night, authorities cordoned off the bridge area, declaring the site a crime scene under investigation.
Protesters sit outside the perimeter while police investigate after shots were fired near the Coast Guard Island entrance in Oakland, Calif. on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. U.S. Coast Guard police opened fire on a U-Haul truck after it backed up a ramp at the entrance to the Alameda island, where U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents have been based. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
Fewer than a dozen protesters remained, scattered around Embarcadero behind a line of caution tape. Nearby, a small fire burned in a trash can containing protest materials discarded by the demonstrators who had left after the shooting.
Jennifer Martinez, a protester at the scene, said she saw the U-Haul parked near the protests earlier in the day.
Just before 10 p.m., she said, demonstrators noticed that the vehicle was approaching the bridge.
“(The truck) just kind of came out of nowhere, backing up into the barrier,” said Martinez, an East Oakland resident. “We were like, ‘You have to stop, just come back.’”
In a video she shared with the Bay Area News Group, a demonstrator is heard shouting “Bring the U-Haul back!” just before authorities open fire.
This is a developing report. Check back for updates.
Jakob Rodgers is a senior breaking news reporter. Call, text or send him an encrypted message via Signal at 510-390-2351, or email him at jrodgers@bayareanewsgroup.com.
Police investigate after shots were fired near the Coast Guard Island entrance in Oakland, Calif. on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. U.S. Coast Guard police opened fire on a U-Haul truck after it backed up a ramp at the entrance to the Alameda island, where U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents have been staying. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
Police investigate after shots were fired near the Coast Guard Island entrance in Oakland, Calif. on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. U.S. Coast Guard police opened fire on a U-Haul truck after it backed up a ramp at the entrance to the Alameda island, where U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents have been staying. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
An Alameda police officer looks for shell casings after shots were fired near the Coast Guard Island entrance in Oakland, Calif. on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. U.S. Coast Guard police opened fire on a U-Haul truck after it backed up a ramp at the entrance to the Alameda island, where U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents have been staying. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
Police investigate after shots were fired near the Coast Guard Island entrance in Oakland, Calif. on Oct. 23, 2025. U.S. Coast Guard police opened fire on a U-Haul truck after it backed up a ramp at the entrance to the Alameda island, where U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents have been based. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
Originally Published: October 24, 2025 at 12:10 AM PDT