Fugitive Suspect in Fremont Cop Shooting Nabbed in SoCal

Investigators tracked suspect's cell phone signal

A statewide manhunt for a suspected gang member who police say shot and wounded a Fremont officer Friday came to an end Saturday near the Mexican Border.

Police working with the Department of Justice tracked the cell phone signal Andrew Barrientos was using to Southern California, police said Saturday afternoon.

A cop in the border town of San Ysidro thought he saw Barrientos and another man in a car and followed the vehicle to a department store parking lot. The officer watched and waited for Barrientos to get out of the car and arrested him at gunpoint. Barrientos was cooperative but armed, police said.

Police from all over the state were involved in the hunt for Barrientos. Two Fremont officers working undercover were serving a search warrant on the suspected gang member in East Oakland at about 2:30 p.m. when the shooting happened.

Gunfire broke out between Barrientos and the officers and one of the officers was hit twice in the pelvic area. Police say Barrientos then carjacked a green Mazda sedan and got away. Police found the car early Saturday morning abandonded in Hayward.

Police on Saturday identified the injured officer as Todd Young and said he's 39 years old, married and has two children. He spent 10 years with the Newark Police Department before joining the Fremont PD, where he's been for the past six years, police said.

Young was rushed to surgery at Oakland Highland Hospital where he is in critical but stable condition. Doctors say he required 60 units of blood durng during surgery. On Friday night, doctors said they were taking it “hour by hour” but the surgery went well. They are asking anyone who can to please contact the American Red Cross at 800-448-3543 or contact a local blood bank to donate blood for Young's surgery and ongoing needs over the next several days. Blood type is not an issue.

Barrientos, 20, lives in Union City has “Decoto” tattooed on his neck and “Decoto gangster” on his arm, police said. The Decoto gang is well-known in the Union City area. Before the shooting Friday, he was wanted on several other serious charges, including evading officers and suspicion of assault on the mother of his child. Police say Barrientos has family and friends in the Union City area and anyone who helped aid in his hiding or escape could face serious charges.

Fremont Mayor Robert Wasserman issued the following statement after the shooting:

The citizens of Fremont and the City Council wish to extend our thoughts and prayers for Officer Todd Young and his family.  Officer Young was seriously wounded Friday afternoon by gunshot wounds while attempting to serve an arrest warrant on a subject located in Oakland.  Officer Young is in critical, but stable condition at Highland Hospital and the Council wishes to extend our most sincere appreciation for the doctors and staff of Highland Hospital for the outstanding medical care that has been extended to Officer Young.

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