ORANGE, Calif. — An apparent road rage shooting led to the death of a 6-year-old boy on the 55 Freeway in the City of Orange, Calif., on Friday morning. The homicide closed down the roadway as police investigated. The gunman remains at large, according to a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol.
The CHP said the young child was sitting in a booster seat in the right rear passenger side of his mother’s automobile when he was struck by gunfire on the northbound 55 Freeway near Chapman Avenue around 8:10 a.m., KTLA reported. The boy was transported to Children’s Hospital Orange County (CHOC), but he did not survive. Authorities have not revealed the child’s identity at the time of publication.
The boy’s mother was not injured during the otherwise fatal spat. Investigators are trying to glean information from her in their effort to determine what led up to the deadly gunfire.
There is no suspect description that has been released, but the shooter’s vehicle was described as a white Volkswagen Jetta, ABC 7 reported.
A CHP official at the scene said the road rage incident was “isolated” and unrelated to other crimes — a string of more than 60 BB or pellet gun shootings — committed in the surrounding area in recent weeks.
