Woman shot dead on Harbor Freeway offramp
Police say the 19-year-old's vehicle was fired upon at least five times. Chief Bratton notes that only a small percentage of homicides take place on highways.
A female motorist was fatally shot early this morning on a 110 Freeway offramp in South Los Angeles, authorities said.
The shooting occurred as the driver was exiting the northbound Harbor Freeway at West Slauson Avenue shortly after 12:30 a.m., said Sgt. Mike Richardson of the Los Angeles Police Department's Newton Station.
The driver has been identified as Samantha Padilla, 19, of Los Angeles, said Officer Kate Lopez of the Los Angeles Police Department's Media Relations unit.
No arrests have been made, she said, adding that a description of the shooter or the suspect vehicle was not available. Lopez said that officers know that someone in another vehicle shot at her sedan at least five times, striking Padilla at least once.
Padilla was taken to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead soon after, Lopez said. She said that authorities have not ruled out the possibility that the shooting was gang-related or whether Padilla knew the shooter.
California Highway Patrol closed the offramp for about four hours, reopening it at 4:17 a.m., said Officer Francisco Villalobos, a spokesman for the department. The scene has been cleared, he said.
Lopez said there was no evidence that today's freeway shooting is part of a trend, adding that her department has only seen three in the last few months. This year, authorities have already responded to shootings on the 10, 91, 101, 110, 605 and 710 freeways -- all unrelated.
Asked this morning in an interview on KTLA if he believed some of the freeway shootings could be gang initiations, LAPD Chief William J. Bratton noted that only a tiny percentage of homicides each year take place on highways.
"Millions of people every day travel the freeways of Los Angeles and about 1% of our murders every year happen on the freeways," Bratton said.
"You have a better chance of getting struck by lightning than getting shot on the freeway," he said, adding that the motive of freeway shootings can include road rage, disputes among people who know one another, and gangs fighting among each other.
"Freeways are still safer than other areas," he said.
francisco.varaorta@latimes.com
