CHP makes arrest in fatal highway shooting of Amazon driver in Lathrop

The California Highway Patrol arrested a Manteca man suspected of fatally shooting an Amazon truck driver on I-5 in Lathrop on June 15.

Ilkhom Shodiev, a 37-year-old father of two from Charlotte, N.C., was driving an Amazon truck north on I-5, north of the Highway 120 junction, when he was shot, according to the CHP. Police radio traffic suggested the shots were fired from a vehicle passing alongside the truck.

The large truck veered off the freeway near the Louise Avenue offramp and crashed into two parked vehicles next to a commercial building. Shodiev, who suffered one gunshot wound, was taken to a hospital but died of his injuries.

The CHP’s Valley Division Investigative Services Unit investigated the incident, according to a news release from the agency.

Officers identified the suspect and his vehicle through surveillance video and witness statements.

On Saturday morning, with the assistance of local agencies, the CHP SWAT team served a search warrant in Manteca.

Authorities arrested 29-year-old Andrew Christopher Watson on suspicion of murder, according to the release. He was booked into the San Joaquin County Jail.

Anyone with information about the case may contact the CHP Valley Division Investigative Services at 916-731-6580 or call the Stockton CHP office at 209-938-4800.