CHP Releases Photo Of Car Sought In Fatal Road Rage Shooting

ORANGE COUNTY, CA - California Highway Patrol officers are asking for the public's help in finding a small SUV and its occupants, as a manhunt continues for the person responsible for firing into a vehicle on State Route 55 and killing a young boy one week ago.

"The California Highway Patrol is seeking to identify and locate the pictured vehicle and occupants," the agency said in a news release Friday. "The suspect vehicle was occupied by a female driver and male passenger."

The reward to find those responsible for the May 21 death of 6-year-old Aiden Leos has swelled to $310,000 thanks to Orange County Supervisors, local businesses and countless supporters over GoFundMe.

Aiden and his mother were heading to kindergarten at the Yorba Linda Calvary Chapel school he attended. Meanwhile, a "road rage" incident ensued on the 55 Freeway and an unidentified person in a white vehicle (pictured above) shot at Aiden's mother's car, according to the CHP. A bullet went through the trunk, fatally striking Aiden while he was sitting in his car seat.

"The suspect vehicle appears to be a white Volkswagen Golf Sportswagen with non-tinted windows," the CHP alert states. "The Golf appears to be a 2018 or 2019 model and the license plate is unknown. After the shooting, the suspect vehicle continued northbound SR-55 to eastbound SR-91 towards the city of Riverside."

So far, appeals for tips from the public have helped investigators gather the new information, CHP Officer Florentino Olivera said at a Thursday news conference in Orange County.

Anyone with relevant information about the killing was asked to call the CHP at 714-567-6000. The CHP also has set up the santaanachptipline@chp.ca.gov email to receive tips. Anonymous tips may also be phoned in to 800-TELL-CHP.

Another website has also been created to help collect tips from the public -- www.aiden-reward.com.

"You might be in line for a reward, but you will certainly have done the right thing," Orange County Supervisor Don Wagner said Thursday.

SEE ALSO: 'I'm Losing My Patience' OCDA Gives Road Rage Shooter Ultimatum

It's possible that multiple people will share in the reward depending on how information leads to an arrest and conviction, he said.

Aiden's 15-year-old sister, Alexis Cloonan, said, "thank you on behalf of my mother" as she urged anyone with information to get in touch with investigators.

"Please, if you saw anything at all, please come forward," she said.

Another family member, Carole Ybanez, told reporters at the news conference, "We are holding up every morning because of you all."

She also thanked the CHP and added, "We are a little numb today ... This is truly horrible."

Joanna Cloonan was driving a silver Chevrolet Cruze sedan with her son in the right rear passenger booster seat when another driver opened fire between 7:55 a.m. and 8:15 a.m. on the northbound Costa Mesa Freeway between the Garden Grove (22) Freeway and Chapman Avenue.

Reyes Valdivia and his wife stopped to help when they spotted Cloonan on the freeway shoulder pulling her son out from the passenger side of the car. He said she told them that when she tried to switch lanes to exit, a sedan with a man and woman inside cut her off and she gestured to them and proceeded into the exit lane, which is when the bullet entered the left side of trunk and struck her son.

She called 911 and the boy was rushed to Children's Hospital of Orange County, where he was pronounced dead, said CHP Officer John De Matteo. He said it's unknown how many rounds were fired from the suspects' car.

This is a developing report. Please refresh for the latest information.

— Patch Editor Renee Schiavone and City News Service contributed to this report.