LOCAL : Man Dies After Being Shot During Rolling Traffic Dispute

A man who was shot during a dispute between occupants of two cars that were traveling through Chatsworth died early this morning, Los Angeles police reported. No arrests were made.

Juan Galdamez, 23, who is believed to have lived in the Canoga Park area, died at Northridge Hospital Medical Center about 12:30 a.m., Lt. Harvie Eubank said.

Galdamez had been shot in the upper body about five hours earlier.

Galdamez was an occupant in a car that was westbound on Nordhoff Street, police said. At Tampa Avenue, Galdamez and the driver began shouting with two men who pulled up next to them in a blue-gray Toyota pickup truck.

As the two vehicles continued, insults were shouted back and forth, police said.

Then, police said, the driver of the pickup truck stuck a gun out his window and fired several shots at the car, hitting Galdamez once.

Galdamez was driven by his friend to the hospital. The driver, whose name was not released, then left the hospital “because he didn’t want to be involved,” Eubank said. He was found this morning and was being questioned by detectives, although he is not a suspect in any crime, Eubank said.

Police were still looking for the pickup truck.

Eubank said investigators had not determined what the dispute was about, but he said it did not appear to be gang-related.

“From what we know now, it was just a traffic dispute,” Eubank said.