Man, 18, Fatally Shot in Freeway Encounter
An 18-year-old man on his way to the beach with a friend was shot and killed Saturday when two men in a white pickup truck pulled alongside their car on the Artesia Freeway in North Long Beach and fired a shot that struck the victim in the head, police said.
Long Beach detectives said the 12:50 p.m. shooting was apparently the result of an argument on the freeway.
Mahonri Feleono, whose hometown was not immediately known, and a friend, Lester Falatea, also 18, were on the freeway in Falatea’s car when a dispute developed with two men in a pickup truck that also was eastbound, detectives said. Details about what started the argument were still under investigation, they said.
Near the junction of the Artesia and Long Beach freeways, the driver of the pickup pulled alongside Falatea’s car and fired one shot from a handgun. It struck Feleono on the left side of the face, police said.
Falatea pulled off the freeway and called for help.
Feleono was taken to Doctors’ Hospital in Lakewood, where he died an hour later, officials said.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
