Driver Shot in Traffic Dies

An unidentified man died Monday after being shot while sitting in traffic at a busy intersection, apparently by a rival, although police were uncertain of the motive.

The victim was shot three times at close range at the intersection of Euclid Street and Westminster Avenue and managed to drive to a nearby liquor store, where he stumbled in, asked for help and collapsed, Police Sgt. Bob Clark said.

Police were trying late Monday to determine the name of the victim, who died of his wounds at Western Medical Center-Santa Ana on Monday night.

The 10 a.m. shooting unfolded after the victim, driving north on Euclid, stopped at a light, Clark said. The gunman pulled up behind him in a white compact car, got out of his car and “casually walked up” to the victim’s truck, witnesses told police.

The gunman fired three times, wounding the man in the leg, hand and side, Clark said.

The victim nearly collided with a big rig as he drove to the liquor store, Clark said. The wounded man screeched his vehicle to a halt, walked into the store and said “I’m dying, I’m dying,” before falling down, according to a store clerk.

Witnesses told police the victim had been in a confrontation with an associate of the gunman shortly before the shooting, but the nature of that encounter was not clear, Clark said. The crime is not believed to be gang- or drug-related, he said.