Canoga Park Man Shot in Traffic Dispute Dies

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

Juan Galdamez, 23, of Canoga Park 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.

Eubank said Galdamez was a passenger in a car that was headed west on Nordhoff Street. At Tampa Avenue, Galdamez and the driver began arguing with two men who had pulled up next to them in a bluish-gray Toyota pickup.

As the two vehicles traveled through several other intersections, the men shouted insults at each other, police said. Shots were fired from the pickup, and Galdamez was struck once, police said.

Galdamez was driven by his friend to the hospital. The driver, whose name was not released, left the hospital “because he didn’t want to be involved,” Eubank said. He was questioned by detectives Wednesday morning but is not a suspect in the shooting, Eubank said.

Police were still looking for the pickup, believed to be a 1989, four-wheel-drive model with mud flaps.

Eubank said investigators had not determined what the dispute was about. It did not appear to be gang-related.

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