1 Wounded In Car-To-Car Shooting On The 101 Freeway

HOLLYWOOD, CA — A driver was wounded in a car-to-car shooting that led to a crash on the northbound Hollywood (101) Freeway in Hollywood Wednesday morning.

The shooting forced the closure of a stretch of freeway for hours as police investigated. It's the latest in a string of freeway shootings to rattle the Southland, including one that killed a 6-year-old boy last week. It also comes as the California Highway Patrol announced the arrest Wednesday of a suspect in a string of 100 BB gun shootings terrorizing Southland drivers.

The latest shooting happened about 1:55 a.m. south of the Santa Monica Boulevard exit, according to Sgt. Jeff Lane of the California Highway Patrol. A suspect in a dark-colored SUV shot at the driver of a silver Chevy pickup truck, wounding him in the leg. The pickup truck driver, a man in his 30s, then plowed into the center divider of the freeway, Lane said.

Video from the scene showed a silver pickup truck with at least one bullet hole, significant front end damage and a blown tire in lanes of the freeway.

A passenger in the vehicle sustained minor injuries and was evaluated at the scene, but declined further medical treatment.

A detailed description of the suspect vehicle, shooter or a motive for the shooting were not immediately available.

The shootings do not appear to be linked to the rash of BB and pellet gun shootings on Southern California freeways, Lane said. Authorities are also investigating at least two other car-to-car shootings in the Downtown area over the last month.

The northbound lanes of the Hollywood Freeway were blocked at Santa Monica Boulevard until further notice, and traffic was being diverted off the freeway at Melrose Avenue Wednesday morning.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.