A 6-Year-Old Boy Was Shot And Killed On OC Freeway In What Authorities Say Was Road Rage Incident

A 6 year old boy was shot and killed this morning in what authorities are calling a road rage incident on the northbound 55 Freeway in the City of Orange.

California Highway Patrol Officer Florentino Olivera, a spokesman for the department, says the shooting happened around 8 a.m. while the cars were driving between the 22 Freeway and Chapman Avenue. A bullet pierced the right rear side of the silver Chevrolet sedan where the child was seated.

"The little boy was transported to the hospital, and unfortunately the little boy was pronounced deceased at the hospital," Olivera said.

Olivera says the boy's mother was driving. She told authorities the shot came from a white sedan.

"We're asking the public if you were driving northbound 55 between 7:55 and 8:15 this morning — and especially if their vehicles have a dashcam, we'd love to see that video and see what we can find. We lost a six year old boy and we want to get to the bottom of this."

What We Know About The Pellet Shootings

Santa Ana CHP says this incident is not related to the string of pellet gun shootings on freeways around the Orange and Riverside County border.

In all, the CHP says there have been more than 60 incidents throughout Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties over the past few weeks.

On Thursday, four more vehicles were damaged by a BB or pellet gun on the 91 and 22 Freeways in the Garden Grove and Corona areas. Six more incidents were reported today in that same area. No injuries have been reported in any of the attacks.

CHP's Inland Division spokesman Officer Dan Olivas says it's a dangerous situation.

"The drivers or passengers of these vehicles could get struck with these projectiles," Olivas said, "or it could cause the driver to lose control of their vehicle and possibly cause a collision, cause further damage and injuries."

There's still no suspect — or indication of where they're firing from. Investigators are looking for witnesses to help supplement data from freeway cameras. For now, Olivas said, if your car is hit:

"As soon as it's safe to do so, pull off of the freeway, give us a call as soon as possible so that we can get officers over there and additional resources to scout the area and see what we can find."