A self-driving car reportedly got in the way as first responders tried to get to the scene of a shooting that left nine people wounded in San Francisco on Friday.
The shooting occurred in the Mission District and authorities have described it as a “targeted” incident, the Daily Mail reported Saturday.
Officers responded when they got the shots fired call about the shooting at 24th and Treat Streets that evening.
ABC 7 reported several of the victims were transported to a local hospital, and video footage shows officials working the scene:
According to the Mail, a witness shared video footage online showing what appeared to be the robotic car blocking access to the area.
In the clip, someone is heard shouting that the car was “Blocking emergency medical and fire! I gotta get it outta here now!”
A @Cruise self-driving car blocked emergency medical access to the scene.. “The Cruise car just stopped on Folsom. An officer got out of his car & started pounding on the window, yelling at the car to get off the street and get out of the way” Paul Valdez https://t.co/GCHpuC0W7S https://t.co/L6mQQQ0JtM
— Steve Rhodes (@tigerbeat) June 10, 2023
A Cruise spokesperson told the Mail the car came to a halt when it approached the scene, then made a U-turn before pulling over.
The spokesperson noted that “Throughout this time, all vehicles, including emergency response vehicles, were able to proceed around our car.”
In May, a Waymo autonomous taxi in San Francisco caused trouble as police tried to stop the driverless car from running over a hose firefighters were using to put out a blaze, according to Breitbart News.
The Waymo-operated car reportedly came upon the scene of an explosion-related fire but would not move out of the way.
Once officers got in touch with a Waymo representative through the car’s speakers, it was put in park and eventually removed from the scene by a support vehicle.
Driverless cars have been causing traffic nightmares in San Francisco as two companies test the cars, per NBC News, which named Google’s Waymo and GM’s Cruise:
According to the Mail, five in the group of nine victims involved in the recent shooting were transported to a hospital, with four suffering from minor injuries and one undergoing surgery.
“We can confirm there are 9 shooting victims — all are expected to survive their injuries,” the San Francisco Police Department said, according to KCRA.
A clothing shop was reportedly hosting a block party in the area when the shooting took place, the Mail article said.