Pomona Youth Shot, Killed on L.A. Highway

A 17-year-old motorist was shot to death Friday night when he apparently angered another driver who was forced to give way as the teen-ager’s car merged on to California 71, Pomona police said.

At least five shootings involving vengeful motorists have occurred in Southern California since June.

“It was some kind of traffic dispute that led to another shooting,” Police Lt. Chuck Heilman said. “That seems to be the rage the last few months. It’s ridiculous.”

The name of the teen-age victim, a Pomona resident, was being withheld pending notification of his family, Heilman said. Four people were being sought in the shooting, and investigators were interviewing witnesses.

Entered Highway

The teen-ager, who was with a friend, had pulled on to the southbound highway from Old Pomona Road, about 35 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles, about 8:30 p.m., Heilman said.

“Apparently there was some traffic interference. The suspects had to maneuver around the victim’s car as he pulled on,” Heilman said.

As the cars continued down the highway, the assailants pulled up alongside the teen-ager’s car and shot him once in the head.

The assailants fled and the victim and his passenger drove a half-mile before summoning help, Heilman said. The teen-ager was taken to Pomona Valley Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead about 9 p.m.

It was the second fatal shooting on a Southland freeway in recent weeks.

Rich Lane Bynum, 24, was shot twice and killed in a car driven by his girlfriend on the Santa Ana Freeway in Santa Fe Springs on June 20. The gunman apparently was angered by the slow speed of the car in which the victim was riding. No arrests have been made in that shooting.

The next day, Giang Nan, 19, of Los Angeles was wounded in the arm when he was shot by another driver while the two raced for a freeway exit in Alhambra. The gunman escaped.

Another man, Paul Gary Nussbaum, 28, of Rolling Hills Estates, was critically wounded when he was shot in the neck while driving in heavy traffic July 18 on the Newport-Costa Mesa Freeway near the entrance to the Orange County Fair. Albert Carroll Morgan, 32, was booked for investigation of attempted murder in the case.

In yet another incident, Lewis Meeks, 33, of Sylmar was booked for investigation of assault with a deadly weapon Tuesday after he allegedly fired shots at a woman on the Hollywood Freeway.

In the fifth such shooting, a Canyon Country man was charged with assault with a deadly weapon after allegedly shooting at a motorcyclist on the Antelope Valley Freeway on June 18.