Gunman Sought In Shooting Of Marine Recruiter On Highway 85
CUPERTINO (CBS SF) -- Investigators are still searching for a suspect in a multiple-round shooting that shattered some windows of a car driven by a Marine recruiter on Highway 85 near Cupertino on Wednesday, a sheriff's deputy said Thursday.
The recruiter was driving an unmarked car and was wearing a jacket over his uniform, so it is unlikely that the person or persons who fired the shots did so believing the driver was with the Marines, Santa Clara County Sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Jose Cardoza said.
Deputies have determined so far that "a few bullets" struck the left driver's side of the car and then shot out and shattered two rear windows on the passenger side, Cardoza said.
The shooting occurred at 12:25 p.m. and prompted the California Highway Patrol to temporarily close the southbound lanes of Highway 85 from 2:16 p.m. to 2:57 p.m. so deputies could collect evidence.
As a precaution, officials at two public schools in the area, Lincoln Elementary School and Kennedy Middle School, decided on a "controlled release" of students at the end of the school day, said Jeremy Nishihara, spokesman for the Cupertino Union School District.
Controlled release, where students must be picked up by parents or guardians instead of walking home from school, was chosen over a potential lockdown because the CHP's closure of the highway nearly coincided with the schools' dismissal times, Nishihara said.
Cardoza declined comment on whether any slugs from the bullets were recovered or what kind of firearm may have been used to shoot multiple rounds at the car as it drove at around the speed limit on the highway.
The shooting remains under investigation, Cardoza said.
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