2 Freeway Shootings Linked to Same Weapon, Police Say

A rash of shootings, including one that killed a Long Beach woman and another that injured a woman in Cerritos, have been linked to the same handgun, police said Monday.

“Ballistics tests completed about one week ago confirm that the three shootings were related,” said Seal Beach Police Det. Darrell Hardin. “We have no suspects whatsoever.”

The first shootings occurred in the early hours of Feb. 15, when shots entered two homes near Moody Street and Yorkshire Drive in Cypress. No one was injured, Hardin said.

About 20 minutes later, motorist Melody Spicer, 47, was shot in the back while traveling south on a transition road from the San Gabriel River Freeway to the Artesia Freeway in Cerritos. Spicer was able to pull over and use a call box to phone police.

Less than 40 minutes later, Helena Joyce Dobiesz, 55, of Long Beach, was mortally wounded on the 7th Street offramp from the northbound San Diego Freeway in Seal Beach. Police found Dobiesz with a gunshot wound to her head and rushed her to St. Marys Medical Center in Long Beach. She was pronounced dead later that day.

Both women drove white cars, according to police reports.

Hardin said police had suspected that the shootings were linked, but had to wait for ballistics reports to confirm their theory.

The bullet that hit Spicer lodged close to her spine, Hardin said, and could not be removed for examination for several weeks.

Police have no motive for the shootings, Hardin said, but he believes that a driver and a passenger were involved.