Law enforcement is investigating a fatal CHP officer-involved shooting that shut down Highway 99 in north Bakersfield for six hours.

CHP Officer Sally Barker says the suspect’s pickup had veered off the northbound lanes near 7th Standard Road around noon on Friday, crashed through a fence, and hit a pole before coming to a stop on Saco Road. The suspect then started walking towards the freeway, making his way through the northbound lanes before hopping the center divider.

Barker says a CHP officer who was responding to the initial crash tried to get the suspect to stop walking through traffic, but he was eventually shot on the southbound side near Merle Haggard Drive. Investigators have not said why the officer drew his gun.

Kelli Pierce