LATHROP, Calif. — Officers with the California Highway Patrol arrested the suspect accused of shooting and killing 37-year-old truck driver Ilkhom Shodiev, officials said Saturday.
The deadly shooting happened on Interstate 5 near Louise Avenue in Lathrop on June 15. Officers say Shodiev was driving his truck which was carrying an Amazon trailer northbound when Andrew Watson, 29 of Manteca, shot him.
The shooting caused Shodiev to drive his semi-truck off the freeway, landing in a parking lot after hitting two parked cars and a building. Medics took Shodiev to a hospital where he later died.
The investigation forced the closure of northbound I-5, snarling peak commute traffic for hours.
Surveillance cameras, witness statements and tips from the public led investigators to Watson Saturday morning, CHP officials said.
Officers with the CHP, the San Joaquin County District Attorney's Office, the Tracy Police Department, the Manteca Police Department, the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office and the Stockton Police Department served a search warrant in Manteca Saturday morning where a SWAT team found and arrested Watson.
Officers booked him into San Joaquin County Jail on suspicion of murder. He is expected to appear in San Joaquin County Court Tuesday afternoon.
Court records show Watson has been involved in at least 11 previous cases in San Joaquin County between 2013 and 2019. In four of the cases, Watson faced traffic-related charges. He was charged with battery in both 2013 and 2015.
Investigators have not yet said what led up to the deadly shooting.
Shodiev, a native of Tajikistan who originally moved to North Carolina to "chase the American dream", leaves behind a wife and two young chidlren.
“He was a very smiley person, he liked to smile, and he liked to joke,” Aziz Azami, a friend of Shodiev's family told ABC10 days after the shooting. “He was a man with principles… A man who had big plans for his family.”
Watch more from ABC10: Amazon truck driver dies after being shot, crashing into Lathrop building