FONTANA, Calif. – Authorities shut down all westbound lanes of Interstate 10 (San Bernardino Freeway) Monday morning while investigating a car-to-car shooting that injured two Rialto (search) men, one critically. It has since been reopened in the Fontana area.
The incident occurred at 2:40 a.m. on the westbound side of the freeway east of the Citrus Avenue exit, said Teresa Mendoza (search), dispatch supervisor for the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department. The men drove themselves off the freeway to a gas station and called 911, she said.
Sheriff's Detective Joe Silva (search) told KNBC-TV that the incident occurred when suspects in a vehicle described as black Ford Taurus with chrome wheel rims pulled alongside the victims' car and fired "numerous rounds" into it. One of the victims was in critical condition at a hospital, he said.
The westbound lanes were shut down while investigators combed the freeway for evidence such as shell casings, Silva said. He said authorities hoped to reopen the lanes by 7 a.m.
Traffic was being diverted off the freeway at Sierra Avenue and back on at Citrus, said Connie Hamilton, a California Highway Patrol (search) dispatcher.
"It's backed up pretty good now," she said.
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