A fatal freeway shooting and crash closed westbound Interstate-8 at in El Cajon on Tuesday night for several hours, NBC 7’s Omari Fleming reports.
CHP officials said on Wednesday that no suspects were being sought in the investigation and that any reports of the shooting being connected to road rage were unfounded. NBC 7 will be updating this story in the future once the county medical examiner's office has given a cause of death — Ed.
A man was killed in a shooting on Interstate 8 in El Cajon Tuesday night, which led to the closure of the freeway for several hours, according to California Highway Patrol.
The incident was initially reported as a collision on westbound I-8 near Mollison Avenue at about 8:30 p.m. Witnesses saw a truck veer off the freeway and onto the on-ramp from Mollison Avenue, CHP officer Jared Grieshaber said. Callers then reported seeing the man, identified by the CHP on Wednesday as a 20-year-old Lemon Grove man, leave his vehicle with what appeared to be a gunshot. The man died at the scene.
Witnesses said a road-rage incident occurred before the crash but those reports are still under investigation, Grieshaber said. At least one person reported hearing a "pop" before the crash.
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A gun and casings were found near the scene, Officer Grieshaber said.
The situation closed all lanes of westbound I-8 at Second Street and the onramp to westbound lanes from Second Street from Mollison Avenue for several hours.
There was a pitbull inside the vehicle of the man who died, Officer Grieshaber said. The San Diego Humane Society responded to the scene to take custody of the dog.
