Tips Pour In on I-5 Tailgate Slaying of Young Man From Orange

Since the freeway shooting Saturday night of Rick Lane Bynum, who was killed by a tailgating driver, more than 300 callers have flooded Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department switchboards with tips, a spokesman said.

Two callers reported traffic incidents involving a car similar to the gunman’s on the same freeway minutes before the shooting, according to Sheriff’s Detective James Mercer.

Funeral services for Bynum, 24 of Orange--who was shot on the Santa Ana Freeway in Santa Fe Springs by a driver apparently angry because he could not get around the car in which Bynum was riding--are scheduled for noon today at the Forest Lawn Mortuary in Cypress.

Mercer, who is leading the investigation, said officials are seeking a man 20-30 years old, driving a 1980-82 yellow Toyota Corolla with primer spots on its right rear-quarter panel.

Officials believe the assailant was angry because Bynum’s girlfriend, who was driving, would not get out of the fast lane and let him pass. The shooting occurred in the southbound lanes of the freeway near Carmenita Road about 9:45 p.m.

Mercer said one woman caller reported that a man in a yellow Toyota--flashing his headlights on and off--pulled up behind her about 9:30 p.m. as she drove in the southbound fast lane of Interstate 5 by Stadium Way near downtown Los Angeles. As the man passed alongside, the woman reported, he shook his fists.

A second caller reported that minutes later he had seen a yellow Toyota pull up and tailgate a car in the southbound fast lane on I-5 near Slauson Avenue, Mercer said. The Toyota’s headlights flashed repeatedly and the other car changed lanes as the Toyota raced by, the caller reported.

Officials have no suspects, Mercer said, adding that “We’re checking leads as fast as we can.”

Investigators asked that anyone with information on the Saturday night shooting in Santa Fe Springs contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department at (213) 974-4341.