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JAMS START OF HOLIDAY TRAVEL
Shooting victim on I-205 snarls the commute
crime-scene-tape

The Thanksgiving travel window got off to a rocky start Wednesday after a man was found shot on Interstate 205, backing up traffic onto Interstate 5 as far back as the 120 Bypass while officers from Tracy Police and the California Highway Patrol investigated.

According to reports, the driver of a black BMW sedan was found suffering from a single gunshot wound on Wednesday just after 3 p.m. on the side of I-205. Officers weren’t initially sure of whether the man was shot where he was found, or shot elsewhere. The suspected gunman reportedly was seen in a green Infiniti with a black hood and obvious front-end damage, and was one of four men in the vehicle that was last seen heading westbound on I-205.

The victim suffered non-life threatening injuries, and is expected to survive. A motive for the shooting was not immediately released by law enforcement.

The shaky start to the busiest travel holiday of the year just happened to fall of the first day of the CHP’s maximum enforcement period – where officers step up enforcement on everything from distracted driving and seatbelt violations to impaired driving. The routine crackdown period is intended to keep motorists safe as millions of people take to the roads.

This year AAA is estimating the busiest Thanksgiving travel season since 2005 – forecasting that 54 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from home between November 21 and November 26 for the long holiday weekend – an uptick fueled by a strong economy. The annual forecast predicted that at least 2.5 million more Americans would be traveling this year for the holiday than did last year.

To contact reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.