Man Wounded in Freeway Shooting
A 30-year-old man was wounded in the arm by gunfire early Sunday morning as he was driving alone on the Costa Mesa Freeway, police said. It was the third freeway shooting in Orange County and the fourth in Southern California this month.
The man, whom police declined to identify, was driving south near the Katella off-ramp at 12:15 a.m. when an older-model sedan pulled alongside his car and someone fired a shot, Orange Police Sgt. Ed Falkenstien said.
Police found the wounded man sitting in his car along the freeway shoulder. He was taken to a local hospital, where he was listed in stable condition Sunday afternoon, Falkenstien said.
Police would not provide any further details about the shooting, other than that it appeared to be random.
On May 15, a Costa Mesa man narrowly escaped injury when a bullet missed him but struck his car on the Santa Ana Freeway.
Two days earlier, a passenger in a car driving east on the Riverside Freeway, Gilberto Valenzuela, 27, of Los Angeles, was shot in the head. He died Friday at UC Irvine Medical Center, a spokesman said.
In Los Angeles, a restaurant manager was killed by gunfire as he drove along the Harbor Freeway on the morning of May 7.
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.
