Gunman Opens Fire on CHP Officer in Ontario Traffic Stop

A California Highway Patrol officer was shot twice Friday afternoon while issuing a speeding ticket on the shoulder of Interstate 15 in Ontario, authorities said. The search for his assailant continued into the night.

The investigation into the shooting led to the closure of the freeway for several hours, snarling traffic for miles along the main highway between the Southland and Las Vegas.

The unidentified 27-year-old officer, who has been with the agency five years, was undergoing surgery at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton, CHP officials said. The officer was shot in the right leg and right pelvic area but is expected to survive. The officer is married with children, CHP Sgt. John Lessentine said, and is based at the CHP’s Rancho Cucamonga office.

The officer was standing on the shoulder of the southbound lanes at the Jurupa Street exit about 2:40 p.m. when his attacker jumped from the stopped car and fired as many as eight times, said CHP Lt. Marc Shaw.

Witness Armando Chicon said the gunman “pointed the gun at the cop and shot nonstop. It was just cold-blooded. I was scared.”

Chicon said he saw the officer try to run from the gunman. The officer returned fire, emptying his gun, officials said.

“I could see a lot of blood coming out of his body,” Chicon told KCAL-TV Channel 9. “He was yelling, ‘It was a Pontiac. It was a Pontiac.’ ”

The injured officer radioed for help, said Ontario Police Officer Bill Russell, and other motorists -- including an off-duty El Monte police officer -- stopped to give aid.

Authorities are looking for a convertible 1990 black Pontiac Sunbird with California license plate 5NIC858. The car, which had not been reported stolen, was last seen traveling south, officials said. Authorities were unsure if the gunman was also the vehicle’s owner, who had been stopped for driving 100 mph, Russell said.

The suspect was described as a Latino, 20 to 30 years old, 5 feet 3 to 5 feet 6 with a thin build. He was wearing a short-sleeved, red-collared shirt with light horizontal stripes, light-colored pants and shoes, and a baseball cap. He is considered armed and dangerous, authorities said.

The freeway’s southbound lanes between the Interstate 10 interchange and the Jurupa Street offramp remained closed late into the evening. The spectator backup in the northbound lanes slowed traffic to a crawl.

Anyone with information is asked to call Ontario police at (909) 986-6711 or (909) 395-2749.

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Times staff writer David Pierson contributed to this report.