Car-To-Car Shooting Shuts Down 110 Freeway In Gardena
GARDENA (CBSLA) – Investigators believe that a drug deal that went sour sparked a car-to-car shooting which lead to a fiery three-vehicle crash that shut down the southbound lanes of the 110 Freeway in Gardena Wednesday morning for more than five hours.
No one was wounded in the shooting, although at least two people were injured in the wreck. A dog also survived.
The situation began just before 4 a.m., when an Infiniti SUV drove alongside a BMW SUV and a suspect opened fire on the southbound side of the freeway, near Redondo Beach Boulevard.
"Paralleled each other, and shots were fired into the gray BMW, causing the gray BMW to hit the right-shoulder wall, and then the Infiniti hit an unrelated vehicle, uninvolved, an Escalade, causing the Escalade to burn into flames," California Highway Patrol Officer Simeon Yarbrough said.
The occupants of the charred Escalade escaped unscathed, while the man and woman inside the shot-up BMW jumped out and ran. They were picked up by some good Samaritans, who drove them to the hospital, CHP said. They were not struck by the gunfire, but were treated for injuries from the crash.
Meanwhile, a German shepherd was left behind in the BMW. Officers were caring for him, CHP reports.
The shooter and his possible accomplice in his Infiniti took off running.
"So we have officers driving around the area trying to follow up on information to see if they can locate them," Yarbrough said.
All southbound lanes were shut down at around 4:30 a.m., backing up traffic for miles. They were fully reopened just before 10 a.m.