Highway 1 road rage shooter found guilty of attempted murder
SANTA CRUZ — A jury found a Hayward man guilty of attempted murder for shooting into the car of a family of five last year on Highway 1.
The jury, after two weeks of testimony and a day of deliberations, returned on Friday afternoon with guilty verdicts against Raphael Abduh-Salam, 33.
Besides the attempted murder charge, he was found guilty of felony charges of shooting into a vehicle, assault with a semiautomatic weapon and illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition, plus several enhancements.
On May 26, 2023, Abduh-Salam was reportedly driving his Acura SUV erratically while southbound on Highway 1 near Aptos. After a fender-bender with the Lexus SUV of a Scotts Valley family, both drivers exited the highway onto the Freedom Boulevard offramp.
Abduh-Salam stopped his vehicle perpendicular to the other SUV, rolled down his window and fired 15 shots toward the family, according to testimony.
Bullets struck the driver and a 3-year-old child in the backseat. A third bullet entered the headrest of the backseat above an 8-month-old child’s car seat.
Though the jury sided with the prosecution’s case that Abduh-Salam was attempting to murder the driver, they threw out charges of attempted murder against the two children.
Abduh-Salam, who remained held without bail in Santa Cruz County Jail, is scheduled to return to court for a status conference on Aug. 26.