One dead, two injured after car-to-car shooting causes crash on 60 Freeway

A gunman remained at large Sunday after a car-tocar shooting on the 60 Freeway in Hacienda Heights the previous day resulted in a multivehicle crash and left a man dead and his two sons injured.

La Puente resident Luiz Mendoza, 35, along with two teenage boys, ages 16 and 13, were injured, according to California Highway Patrol officials. They were taken by Los Angeles County Fire Department paramedics to Los Angeles County+USC Medical Center.

Mendoza, who was shot, died at the hospital. The 13-year-old suffered major head injuries, while the 16-year-old faced less serious injuries, though CHP said the cause of the boys’ injuries — a gunshot or the collision — was still under investigation on Sunday.

The incident was reported at 12:28 p.m. on Saturday, according to a CHP statement. Officers who responded to the scene found the three injured males; Mendoza’s white Chevrolet Avalanche had “extensive collision damage,” the statement said.

Witnesses told officers that the right front passenger of a silver or gray compact vehicle that was in the high occupancy vehicle lane pointed a handgun out the window and fired several shots at Mendoza’s truck. Mendoza then lost control of the vehicle and hit a white Kia, then a concrete retaining wall.

The person in the white Kia, who was alone, was uninjured.

After the shooting and collision, the CHP closed down for several hours all eastbound lanes of the 60 Freeway at the 605 Freeway interchange where traffic was being diverted, authorities said.

All lanes had reopened by about 9:30 p.m., Caltrans reported.

The closures had caused significant delays for drivers on the Fourth of July holiday weekend with road maps showing delays of up to 45 minutes on the eastbound lanes of the 60 and 10 freeways.

CHP had not yet made an arrest as of Sunday, and the case remained under investigation. Anyone with information should call CHP at (323) 259-3200 or CHP Major Crimes at (323) 6449550.