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Road rage likely cause of freeway shooting that killed Cal legend Gene Ransom

By KTVU staff
Updated  February 7, 2022 8:33am PST
Oakland
KTVU FOX 2

Investigators say road rage likely cause of deadly Oakland freeway shooting

OAKLAND, Calif. - A preliminary investigation shows Friday's deadly freeway shooting in Oakland that killed a Cal basketball legend was probably a case of road rage, according to officials.

Juan Garcia, 25, was arrested Saturday and was booked on suspicion of murder. 

Police have not yet released the victim's name, but the man who died has been identified by friends as 65-year-old Gene Ransom, a Berkeley basketball star in the 1970s.

Investigators said Garcia pulled up on the left side of the Ransom's car and fired into it, killing him. 

Officials reported that Garcia immediately fled the scene, and was found after a warrant for his arrest was issued.

Gene Ransom a standout player with Cal's men's basketball team in the 1970s, was fatally shot on an Oakland freeway on Feb. 5, 2022. (KTVU FOX 2)

What caused Garcia to allegedly get mad and fire has not been revealed. 

It wasn’t known Sunday if Garcia has an attorney who could speak on his behalf.

Ransom was on his way to pick up his girlfriend at a West Oakland train station, said Doug Harris, a former teammate and longtime friend.

Harris told another news organization that the woman waited for Ransom for hours, "not knowing that he had been murdered."

SEE ALSO: Gene Ransom, Berkeley basketball legend, killed in Oakland freeway shooting

This is the second high-profile shooting in the Bay Area so far in 2022.

The first was the shooting death of Alameda County sheriff's recruit Daniel Nguyen who was gunned down in January near the Bay Bridge toll plaza. 

Nguyen was hit by a bullet that "penetrated the right front window, and the bullet then struck the driver," which resulted a crash that killed him, according to the CHP. 

There have been no arrests made in the case and no motive revealed. 

There were 144 freeway shootings in the Bay Area's nine counties in 2021, according to California Highway Patrol documents obtained through a California Public Records request. 

Nearly 70% of those shootings occurred in the two East Bay counties of Alameda and Contra Costa counties, the data shows. 

The CHP arrested suspects in 11% of last year's cases, the data shows. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.