A suspected carjacking attempt ended with one person being shot in the San Gabriel Valley as the driver took to the freeways and fled to Encino Wednesday night.
The shooting was reported shortly before 9:30 p.m. as the victims were being chased by two vehicles and shot at on the 60 Freeway in the Monterey Park area, California Highway Patrol Sgt. Jon Relles said.
The driver continued onto the 101 Freeway and was headed to Encino when dispatchers asked the victims to exit at Balboa Boulevard where officers were standing by, Relles said.
The suspects did not exit the freeway but officers found a bullet hole in the front passenger door of the victim’s vehicle.
“The victim had a graze-wound injury to his right ankle,” Relles said. The victim, who was seen on video talking to authorities after the incident, appeared to be OK.
Investigators determined the incident began off the 10 Freeway near Del Mar Avenue where one of the suspect vehicles tried to block the victims in.
Three men in ski masks exited the vehicle, but the victims managed to escape and got on the 60 Freeway when the shooting occurred in the Monterey Park area, Relles said.
The motive was still under investigation but “preliminarily, it sounds like it’s a good possibility it was a carjacking or attempted carjacking,” Relles said.
The suspect vehicles were described as black sedans, one a Mercedes-Benz and the other a Lexus.
No further descriptions of the suspects were available.
