Cars Targeted On 91 Freeway, BB Or Pellet Gun Shooter To Blame

ORANGE COUNTY, CA — Officers are investigating two more incidents of cars damaged by bb or pellet guns shooting at the 91 Freeway between Anaheim and Corona, California Highway Patrol reports.

Los Angeles is also seeing similar shootings on the rise, according to CHP reports. They are compiling incidents in the hope of discovering a pattern of behavior.

On Wednesday morning before 6 a.m. a shooting occurred on the southbound Golden State (5) Freeway north of the Glendale (2) Freeway in the Silver Lake area, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The driver of a 2015 Toyota Camry reported his car's rear window suddenly shattered, but the cause was unknown, the CHP officers say.

About 11 p.m. Tuesday, a Dodge Charger was northbound on the San Gabriel River (605) Freeway south of Valley Boulevard in the unincorporated area of Los Angeles County near La Puente when the front driver door was struck by a projectile, possibly a gunshot, the CHP reported.

In other incidents:
-- a motorist on the eastbound 91 Freeway in Corona told the CHP that someone fired a projectile that hit the driver's side window on his sedan at about 11 p.m. Tuesday;
-- shortly after 5 a.m. Wednesday, a Toyota Camry sustained damage from a BB or pellet that hit the sedan in the area of the Corona (71) Expressway and the westbound 91.
-- and at 5:30 a.m. Wednesday, a third car was damaged on the westbound 91 near the Costa Mesa (55) Freeway in Anaheim Hills, according to the CHP.

In all, the CHP believes there have been nearly 60 incidents throughout Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties over the past few weeks. No injuries have been reported in any of the attacks.

White vehicles have been spotted in the attacks, with white vehicles also seemingly been targeted, but no specific descriptions of the cars or suspects have been provided.

"We are taking each of these incidents seriously and actively searching for those responsible," CHP Border Division Assistant Chief Donald Goodbrand said. "The public should still feel safe while driving their vehicles on our California freeways."

CHP Officer Florentino Olivera said that if a vehicle window is shattered, drivers are advised to pull over as soon as it is safe and call 911.

Olivera said a vehicle was hit at the 91 and state Route 241 toll road in Anaheim Hills about 9 a.m. Tuesday. On Monday at about 6:30 p.m., there was another incident at the 91 and Orange (57) Freeway in Anaheim, he said.
About 9 a.m. last Friday, a CHP officer's cruiser sustained a damaged window on the eastbound 91 at the 241, Olivera said.

"An officer was finishing up an enforcement stop and completing notes on the citation when he heard a noise and the back window was shattered. There were big rigs going by at the same time," so it might have been a rock that caused the damage, Olivera said. "We're not sure what shattered the window."

Similar incidents have been reported in Los Angeles County, beginning in April, Olivera said. Many have been in the Westminster area.

Two other suspected acts of violence happened just before 7 a.m. last Thursday on the westbound 91 near Norwalk Boulevard, and last Wednesday night on the 91 in Cerritos.

On May 10, windows on two vehicles traveling along the eastbound 91 in Corona during the predawn hours were blasted by a pellet gun or BB gun.

Two motorists reported shattered windows while driving on the San Diego (405) Freeway in the Seal Beach area on April 27.

Anyone with information about the shootings was asked to call the CHP Border Division Investigative Services Unit at 714-288-6336; or the CHP Central Los Angeles Area office at 213-744-2331.

Read also:

Cars Damaged, Shot Out Windows On 91 Freeway

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City News Service, Patch Editor Ashley Ludwig contributed to this report.