At least 80 freeway shootings reported since late April, CHP says
CORONA, Calif. (KABC) -- At least 80 incidents of cars being shot at while traveling on Southern California freeways have been reported since late April, according to the California Highway Patrol.
A large majority of them have happened along the 91 Freeway, spanning from east of the 15 Freeway and all the way out toward the 605 Freeway. Although none of them have resulted in significant injuries, authorities have not been able to pin down a suspect description or solid lead.
At least eight more freeway shootings were reported on Thursday, including an incident on the 91 Freeway near Green River Road in Corona. The driver of the SUV said she was on her way to work when her vehicle's back window was shattered.
She didn't want to appear on camera but told a local photographer that the glass shattering sounded like an explosion.
"I didn't know what was going on. First, I heard like it was on top of my car... on the roof, but then I checked my rear view window and I saw my back window shattered. Right away, I just called 911. I don't know what it was, I didn't see anything around me," she said.
More car window shootings reported on SoCal freeway, including CHP cruiser
With so much traffic around her during rush hour, she couldn't provide authorities with a suspect description.
"There was a lot of traffic at the time, everybody was just driving normally, like nothing happened," she said.
The driver of a Cadillac Escalade was also fired upon in the Corona area Thursday morning, but he didn't report it until he got to Anaheim a little while later.
The CHP is stressing that time is of the essence when it comes to reporting these incidents.
"What's happening is people continue driving. By the time they come to a stop, say five or 10 miles away, they'll call 911...we don't even have the exact location anymore. We have an approximate location, but it helps if someone were to pull over immediately," said Officer Florentino Olivera.
Olivera adds that drivers whose vehicles are equipped with Bluetooth can use that to immediately call 911 and give a real-time description of vehicles in the area, as well as their surroundings.
