California Boy on His Way to School With Mom Killed in Suspected Road Rage Shooting
An apparent road rage incident on the 55 Freeway in Orange County on Friday morning resulted in the death of a 6-year-old California boy.
Officials of the California Highway Patrol said the gunman, who shot the California boy, remains at large. Authorities have not yet confirmed the identity of the 6-year-old boy. But the Orange Fire Department immediately transported him to Children's Hospital Orange County, where he was pronounced dead.
According to KTLA 5, California Highway Patrol officer Florentino Olivera said the child was sitting in a booster seat in his mother car's right rear passenger side when the suspect fatally shot him on the northbound 55 near Chapman Avenue around 8 a.m.
Olivera noted that the incident was very unfortunate after they lost a boy this morning. Olivera added that their thoughts and prayers are with the mother and the family of the California boy who was the victim of an apparent road rage incident.
Investigators handling the case spoke with the 6-year-old boy's mother to put up the pieces of the deadly shooting incident. They confirmed that the mother of the child was not injured in the incident.
One of the witnesses in the road rage incident, Reyes Valdivia, told the Los Angeles Times that the bullet went through the boy's back. Valdivia also said that he pulled over to the side of the freeway to help the California boy's mother. The witness added that it appeared that a bullet had entered the vehicle through the left side of the trunk.
READ NEXT: School Strike 4 Climate: Classrooms in Australia Went Empty as Students Joined Climate Strike
The California Boy's Mother
Valdivia said the mother was "hysterical" when she pulled the 6-year-old California boy out of her vehicle after he had been shot. The witness further noted that an off-duty officer stopped at the scene soon after and immediately performed CPR on the child.
While the California Highway Patrol has not released any information regarding the road rage incident, Valdivia said the mother told him that she and her son were heading to school when a car cut her off as she tried to exit the carpool lane.
Valdivia noted that the California mom gestured to the vehicle's two occupants, a man and a woman, and was exiting the lane when the gunfire erupted.
Authorities have yet to release any detailed description of the suspect's vehicle, but it was believed to be a newer model of a white sedan. Police said that it could possibly be a Volkswagen station wagon.
Olivera described the apparent road rage incident as an isolated case. He noted that it was unrelated to a string of not less than 60 BB or pellet gun shootings that have been recently reported in Orange, Riverside, and Los Angeles countries in the last three weeks. Most of the incidents happened along the 91 Freeway, NBC Los Angeles reported.
The California Highway Patrol is pleading with witnesses to come forward, especially those individuals whose vehicle is equipped with dashboard cameras and traveling northbound 55 between the 22 Freeway and Chapman at around 7:55 a.m. and 8:15 a.m. on Friday that could have seen the incident that resulted in the death of the 6-year-old California boy.
READ MORE: Eleven-Year-Old Girl Escapes Attempted Abduction at Florida Bus Stop
WATCH: 6-Year-Old Boy Dies In Road Rage Shooting On 55 Freeway in City Of Orange - From CBS Los Angeles