Second driver fatally shot on the 710

For the second time in three days, a motorist was fatally shot Friday on the 710 Freeway on the Eastside of Los Angeles, prompting officials to close the busy roadway for about eight hours.

The shooting jangled the nerves of motorists and comes two years after a string of shootings that began on the Harbor Freeway prompted the California Highway Patrol and other law enforcement agencies to beef up patrols.

“It’s pretty scary,” said Eric Kwan, a worker at an adult day-care center near Friday’s shooting. “Like when they had all those shootings on the 110 Freeway. I hope it’s not the same pattern. Being so close to here, it makes us uncomfortable.”

In Friday’s incident, a motorist was shot and crashed his car into the center divider of the 710 Freeway near Valley Boulevard, then struck a Caltrans maintenance vehicle.

Detectives said the driver was shot by someone in a passing sport utility vehicle about 11:20 a.m. near the 10 Freeway in what they believe was an act of road rage.

Authorities did not identify the victim.

Three nights earlier, a motorist was fatally wounded about four miles south on the 710 Freeway near the 3rd Street onramp while helping his girlfriend change a flat tire.

Preliminary investigations are underway to determine if the two incidents are related.

“If these events occur in any reasonable amount of time, it’s easy to try to make the connection,” said Sgt. Mark Garrett of the California Highway Patrol. “But it takes more looking into before we see what’s the truth.”

The assailants in both cases are still at large.

Tuesday’s shooting claimed the life of 25-year-old Michael Miller of Bell Gardens, said Sgt. Duane Allen of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

“His girlfriend called him out to come help her,” Allen said.

Miller was next to his girlfriend’s car when another man drove up and approached him about 10:20 p.m., asking Miller if he needed help, Allen said.

“Miller said no,” Allen said. “And for some unknown reason, the suspect brought out a gun and started shooting the victim. He then fled.”

Sheriff’s detectives have released a composite sketch of the gunman, described as a Latino male, 20 to 25 years old, with a very thin mustache and wearing eyeglasses and a baseball cap.

He was driving a 1993 to 1997 four-door Nissan Altima, either light blue or gray, Allen said.

Miller later died at County-USC Medical Center from multiple gunshot wounds, said Lt. David Smith of the Los Angeles County coroner’s office.

The northbound lanes of the 710 Freeway were shut down for about five hours as detectives pored over the crime scene looking for evidence, reopening lanes shortly after 3 a.m. Wednesday, authorities said.

In Friday’s incident, the victim was driving his compact car south on the 710 Freeway.

Detectives believe that he and the driver of a black SUV with tinted windows had some sort of traffic dispute, prompting the SUV driver to open fire, mortally wounding the victim.

The victim’s car grazed the center divider near Valley Boulevard and scraped a parked Caltrans maintenance vehicle, said Deputy Bill Brauberger, a Sheriff’s Department spokesman.

The victim, believed to be in his late 20s to early 30s, was found slumped over the steering wheel with a gunshot wound. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.

Two Caltrans workers complained of pain after the van was struck and were taken to a hospital, where they were treated and released, Brauberger said.

The northbound and southbound lanes of the 710 Freeway between the 10 Freeway and Valley Boulevard were closed Friday afternoon while the CHP and Sheriff’s Department continued their investigation and the coroner removed the driver’s body, said CHP Officer Miguel Luevano.

The freeway reopened shortly after 7 p.m. Friday.

Authorities are asking any witnesses to call the sheriff’s homicide bureau at (323) 890-5500.

Bouts of closely timed, highly publicized freeway shootings date back almost 20 years in Southern California.

Most recently, in 2005, the phenomenon made national headlines when four people died in nearly 30 freeway shootings during a five-month span in seemingly random and unrelated incidents.

As recently as May 2006, two freeway shootings in Los Angeles County about eight hours apart left three people injured in incidents on the 710 and 91 freeways.

Authorities said it is too early to tell if this week’s incidents are related or part of a larger trend.

“Unfortunately, we have hundreds upon hundreds of shootings every year in the Los Angeles area, but most are in homes and streets,” said Garrett of the CHP.

“The vast majority are not on the freeway, so when it does occur it becomes a much larger and noticeable event.”

Batty Rivera, 33, was on her way to work at a restaurant around the corner from the 710 Freeway offramp at Valley Boulevard when she drove by the scene of Friday’s shooting.

“It was such a surprise,” she said. “I think if I was there five minutes earlier, I would have seen the shooting. It’s a surprise because it’s not dangerous here. I feel safe here.”

--

francisco.varaorta@latimes.com

david.pierson@latimes.com