Another Freeway Shooting Incident Leaves Motorist Critically Injured

A car passenger was hit by gunfire and critically wounded in a freeway shooting Saturday night, police said.

The unidentified man was riding with a companion driving east on the Riverside Freeway at the Santa Ana Freeway interchange when he was shot in the left side of the head about 6 p.m., police said.

The shot was reportedly fired from a 1981 or 1982 red Toyota pickup truck with gray primer paint on the passenger door, police said. Two people in the car were described as white males in their 20s with blond hair.

The victim was taken to UCI Medical Center in Orange, where he was listed in critical condition. It was not immediately known where the victim and the driver were headed or why they were fired upon.

The shooting comes on the heels of two other violent incidents on Southland freeways.

Less than a week ago, a 29-year-old restaurant manager on his way to open his business in Gardena was shot and killed on the Harbor Freeway. Authorities are searching for two suspects who were in a black and yellow Pontiac Trans Am that was seen traveling alongside the victim’s vehicle.

Last month, a 16-year-old from Bell Gardens was shot and killed as he was riding with friends on the Long Beach Freeway.