Gene Ransom, a Bay Area basketball legend, was fatally shot while driving on I-880 in Oakland on Friday evening, according to multiple reports.
California Highway Patrol officers responded to reports of a vehicle crash on I-880 north of Oak Street at approximately 5:15 p.m. on Feb. 4, the agency said. They arrived on the scene to find a victim shot and declared him dead upon arrival.
Investigators determined the victim was driving northbound on the freeway in a black Honda Civic when the suspect, inside a black Lexus sedan, drove to the left of him and shot in his vehicle, striking him at least once. The victim veered right into a guardrail and came to a stop while the suspect, later identified by authorities as 25-year-old Juan Angel Garcia of San Francisco, immediately fled the scene.
Detectives on Saturday located Garcia and took him into custody without incident at 10 a.m. He was booked into Alameda County Jail on murder charges.
The agency said they are still investigating a potential motive for the fatal shooting.
While the CHP has not confirmed the victim's identity, multiple reports and close friends and family have identified him as 65-year-old Gene Ransom, an East Bay basketball icon who starred at Berkeley High School and Cal in the late 1970s.
The 5-foot-9 point guard played three seasons for the Golden Bears from 1975 to 1978. In perhaps his most memorable performance, he scored a career high 36 points and played a school record 63.5 minutes during Cal’s 107-102 five overtime win over Oregon on Feb. 10, 1977.
Ransom was inducted into the Cal Athletics Hall of Fame in 2001.
"We are shocked to hear the reports that Cal Athletics Hall of Famer Gene Ransom has been identified as a victim in a deadly freeway shooting," Cal Athletics said in a statement. "Our thoughts are with Gene’s family and friends for this tragic loss. Gene was one of the greatest players in our men’s basketball program’s history, and he will be greatly missed."
Ransom was drafted by the Golden State Warriors in 1979 but cut in the preseason.
He returned to Berkeley High School as a boys basketball coach in 1999.
"We are deeply shocked and saddened. Our hearts are with Gene’s family and friends," Berkeley High School said in a Twitter post.
The investigation into his death remains ongoing. The CHP asked anyone with further information to call their tip line at 707-917-4491.
Oakland city councilor and mayoral candidate Sheng Thao told KCBS Radio the tragic shooting is another example of too many guns in the hands of the wrong people, describing the situation as "out of control."
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