Knife-wielding suspect killed by authorities after chase, crash on I-80 in Sacramento County

Law enforcement officers shot and killed a man after a brief pursuit on Interstate 80 in Sacramento County on Sunday afternoon, and the subsequent investigation kept eastbound lanes of the freeway closed through most of Sunday night.

California Highway Patrol officers began chasing the driver around 12:20 p.m. after a “traffic violation” near I-80 and Norwood Avenue, Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Sgt. Amar Gandhi.

The driver of the vehicle crashed into a motorcyclist near the Elkhorn Boulevard and Greenback Lane exit, then got out of his vehicle holding a knife, Gandhi said. Two CHP officers and a deputy with the Sheriff’s Office K-9 unit opened fire on the suspect.

The suspect, described as a man in his 40s, was later pronounced dead at Mercy San Juan Medical Center.

The motorcyclist, an adult man, was in critical condition Sunday afternoon, Gandhi said.

The freeway in Old Foothill Farms reopened around 11 p.m.

“I know it’s a big inconvenience for the public, but unfortunately something of this magnitude is going to take priority over traffic,” Gandhi said of the longterm closure.

Video from a Caltrans camera showed authorities moving traffic off eastbound I-80 at the Elkhorn Boulevard and Greenback Lane exit. Traffic was backed up on portions of eastbound I-80 at Watt Avenue, as well as the northbound lanes of the Capital City Freeway before the I-80 merge.