Man killed in Bay Area freeway standoff was Napa wine-tour operator

The homicide suspect who died in a shootout with police Wednesday as stunned motorists looked on was a Napa-based wine tour operator.|

The homicide suspect who died in a shootout with police Wednesday morning in the middle of a San Francisco Bay Area freeway was identified as 45-year-old Demilo Trayuon Hodge, owner of Excursion Limousine Service based in Napa.

As stunned motorists on busy Interstate 80 looked on, some recording the scene on their cellphones and sharing it on social media, officers from Fairfield and Emeryville police departments held the driver in a standoff following a 40-mile chase that began in Fairfield, when police tried to detain the man who they said was a suspect in homicide.

According to Fairfield police, Hodge was wanted in connection with the killing of 68-year-old William Freeman in Fairfield on Dec. 10, 2015. Police had released two sketches of a suspect or suspects earlier in September. One of the sketches appeared to resemble Hodge.

Fairfield detectives sought help from Richmond police to initiate a traffic stop on a black sport utility vehicle that Hodge was driving on Wednesday morning at approximately 8:40 a.m. The driver fled and was given chase by Fairfield and Richmond police, according to Lt. Rob Lenke of the Fairfield police.

The morning rush-hour standoff shut down all lanes of I-80 in the suburb of Emeryville. It ended when the suspect got out of a black sports utility vehicle and "officers received gun fire from the suspect," authorities said. Officers fired back at the man, who was wounded and died of his injuries at a hospital.

"Officers negotiated with the suspect for an extended period of time until officers received gun fire from the suspect," said a statement issued by the Emeryville, Fairfield and Richmond police departments. "Officers on scene returned fire and the suspect was struck during the exchange."

The statement did not specify how many shots were fired or what type of weapons were involved.

A Facebook Live video shot from the air showed the man getting out of the car and taking a step before falling to the ground. Another video shot by a motorist appeared to show officers firing their guns and the sound of at least 20 gunshots.

Hodge's address was given as San Leandro in police reports, but his wine-tour business Excursion Limousine Service has been operating out of Napa for at least a year. The business has a five-star rating on Yelp.

Photos of Hodge in the Napa Register and on the Executive Excursion Limousine website, ee1limo.com, show him standing next to the same Ford SUV that he was driving during the standoff and shooting.

Based on reporting by the Associated Press, the Sonoma Index-Tribune and other sources.

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