Detectives have arrested a man in connection with the May 26 shooting incident on Highway 1 in Aptos.
The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office and the California Highway Patrol say the suspect is Raphael Shakur Abduh-Salam, 33, of Hayward, is in custody in Contra Costa County on a parole hold. The shooting took place on a Friday night. CHP said this was a road rage incident.
Deputies and California Highway Patrol responded at 8:37 p.m. to reports of a shooting at the Freedom Boulevard exit on Southbound Highway 1. They found the suspect was driving erratically on southbound Highway 1. Subsequently, the suspect’s vehicle collided with a second vehicle. Both cars left the freeway at Freedom Blvd where the suspect then turned his car around and fired multiple rounds at a vehicle before fleeing the scene.
Five family members were in that vehicle and the shooting left the man driving and a 3-year-old child injured by gunfire and shrapnel. Both were transported to the hospital and have since been released. Over several months, Sheriff’s Office detectives worked closely with California Highway Patrol and other forensics teams and law enforcement agencies. The CHP served search warrants on Nov. 14. With ballistic testing and DNA evidence, officers identified Abduh-Salam as the suspect.
He faces charges including attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, shooting into an occupied vehicle, felon in possession of a firearm, and felon in possession of ammunition. He is to be booked into Santa Cruz County Jail on those charges.
The Sheriff’s Office thanked these agencies and teams for their assistance in the investigation: • California Highway Patrol • Santa Cruz County Auto-Theft Reduction & Enforcement Team • Santa Cruz County Anti-Crime Team • Santa Cruz County District Attorney’s Office • California Dept. of Corrections and Rehab • Hayward Police Dept. • Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office Forensic Services Division • California Department of Justice Bureau of Forensic Sciences • Serological Research Institute • Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Identification Unit
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TOP PHOTO: Image from dash camera video of the Highway 1 shooting response. • Courtesy of Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office