SANTA CLARITA, Calif. – A bullet hit a motorist's car Monday in another Southern California (search) freeway shooting, authorities said. No one was hurt but two major routes were shut down for the investigation.
The bullet pierced a windshield in an incident on northbound Highway 14 (search) reported shortly after 3 p.m., said Officer Armando Clemente, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol.
"It went through the windshield and went through a side window," he said.
Traffic was halted for more than an hour on northbound sections of Highway 14 and adjacent Interstate 5 in the Newhall Pass (search) north of Los Angeles, while CHP officers walked traffic lanes in search of evidence.
No shell casings were found, Clemente said, adding that authorities did not immediately determine whether the shooting was related to any previous shootings.
Two freeway shootings left two men wounded in Southern California during the weekend and another possible shooting remained under investigation, authorities said Monday.
The incidents were the latest in a spate of recent freeway shootings in the region that has killed four people.
Los Angeles police on Monday also released details of a shooting that previously had not been reported. A 16-year-old driver and his 17-year-old passenger were targeted about 3:30 a.m. Saturday on Interstate 5 in the Sun Valley area, police said. The driver, who was hit three times, was able to drive himself to a hospital and was expected to survive, Clemente said. The passenger was not injured. The shooting occurred when a white, midsize sedan pulled alongside the teens' Toyota.
Authorities said events indicate the shooting was motivated by road rage. No additional details were available.
In a separate incident, police said a 19-year-old man was shot early Sunday while driving on Interstate 405, but managed to pull off the freeway and flag down a firefighter at an unrelated crash.
The driver, whose identity was not released, was shot three times and was taken to Providence Holy Cross Medical Center, where he was in stable condition and was expected to survive. The victim told police the shots came from a black car with four or five men inside.
Authorities were also investigating whether shots were fired at a motorist early Sunday on Interstate 210, said CHP Officer Ricardo Quintero. The CHP received a report of beer cans being thrown and gunfire near the Hubbard Street off-ramp at that time.
In the past five weeks, two men were killed in separate incidents on the Harbor Freeway in Los Angeles. Two others also recently were killed in freeway shootings in neighboring counties.
The shootings are not believed to be connected, said Los Angeles police Lt. Paul Vernon.
The number of freeway shootings in Los Angeles alone had been going down the past two years, Vernon said. There have been 11 this year. In 2004, there were 36 freeway shootings, with one person killed. In 2003, there were 46 incidents and four fatalities.
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