Driver shot and crashes into house, passenger killed in Fremont, police say

FREMONT, Calif. (KTVU) - Someone opened fire late Tuesday into a silver Mercedes in Fremont, causing the driver to crash into a house and his passenger to be pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

Fremont police on Wednesday morning did not identify the man who died, or his driver, who was also shot and is being treated at a hospital for his injuries. A suspect has not been located. 

A sergeant said that the shooting was reported about 11:30 p.m. Tuesday on Chaucer Drive near Torrington Court in the city's Northgate neighborhood.

Residents and first responders found a male victim in the passenger seat. He died at the scene despite efforts to save him. 

The Mercedes driver was found in the neighborhood.

The names of the victims weren't released. 

Fremont police Sgt. Ricardo Cortes said investigators were following up on a number of leads. 

This is Fremont's third homicide of the year. And it was the third violent death in the Bay Area in a span of three hours. In Napa, police killed a man following reports of a domestic violence call at 2 a.m., and a man was shot to death in San Jose about 1 a.m. 

One neighbor said she tried to help. 

"I ran over to the car and I took off my jacket," Tamar Buckley said. "The guy was in the passenger seat, leaned over and I applied pressure to his neck."

Buckley added: "It’s very astonishing to be honest. I've been here for six years now. People come and go but nothing like ths. I am really appalled."

Shortly beforehand, a neighbor and his wife heard three gunshots.

"I'm surprised it happened," said a man who only wanted to be identified as Elliot. "This is the first time I ever heard it."

The neighborhood, he said, is usually quiet and the residents keeps to themselves. "It's mostly elderly people from the old days and stuff," he said. 

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Fremont Police Department’s Crimes Against Person’s Unit at 510-790-6900 or email Detective Nordseth at Snordseth@fremont.gov.  Or text Tip FremontPD followed by your short message to 888777.