BURBANK : 2 Men Shot After Following Vehicle

On their way to a fast-food restaurant Monday, Greg Peterson spotted a carload of women on San Fernando Boulevard in Burbank and urged his buddy, John Mejia, to follow it.

The two friends, riding in a Buick Regal sedan, trailed the white car onto the Golden State Freeway until the Burbank Boulevard exit. Peterson had hoped to exchange words with the women, Mejia said.

What the men got instead were shots fired at them from the car that initially caught their eye.

Peterson, 21, of Burbank was hit in the leg as he got out of the Buick at a stoplight and jogged toward the women, Burbank police said. Mejia, 19, of Sun Valley was shot in the shoulder as he briefly stepped out of his sedan to help his friend. Both were taken to Thompson Memorial Hospital and released the next day.

“I saw the long hair, but didn’t see any faces,” said Mejia, who is married and the father of a 1-year-old.

“I had no reason to get shot. He was just trying to pick up girls and I got shot for just helping him pick up.”

Peterson was unavailable for comment Wednesday.

Police are still searching for the white car, described as either a Honda or Hyundai, which fled west on Burbank Boulevard and apparently carried one or two men obscured from view by the women.

“I don’t know why they were shot,” Burbank Police Detective Jose Duran said. “I’m thinking these people (in the white car) were being followed as they were getting off the freeway and it may have been they felt threatened.”