A 4-year-old child in California reportedly died in a senseless act of gun violence Friday evening. The boy, whose name has not been released, was allegedly shot as he sat in the back seat of a car. His parents rushed him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Police say the shooting was part of a road rage incident.
The incident occurred in Lancaster, about 75 miles from Los Angeles. Per the Sacramento Bee, a 29-year-old man and a 27-year-old woman were arrested in connection with the shooting; their names have also not been released.
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The incident occurred Friday evening.
A mother and father were traveling with their son about 7:30 p.m. Friday on Sierra Highway when they allegedly became involved in a road rage incident with another driver, ABC 7 reported. The suspect reportedly cut off the parents and started to follow them for an extended period.
The car with the parents slowed down, and the suspect caught up with it and shot into their car, according to ABC 7. The little boy was struck in his upper torso with a fatal injury.
Investigators immediately began their search for a suspect.
Deputies searched the area for the suspect and the car reportedly involved in the shooting, per a release from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department obtained by the Sacramento Bee. Authorities later arrested a man and a woman in connection with the shooting.
Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris wrote on Facebook that the individuals did not resist arrest and were taken into custody.
"We're praying for the family," Parris told ABC 7. "We understand that this is a really good family. I've talked to members of their church. It's unimaginable that this could have been any of our families. It could have been any of us."
Surveillance cameras may have helped deputies locate the suspect.
"The suspects were tracked by our recently installed flock camera safety net. In less than 24 hours, search warrants were issued, and the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department SEB team served the warrants at a Lancaster hotel," Parris wrote in his Facebook post.
Supporters thanked the mayor for keeping the city safe.
"Rex, it's awesome that the city is on the cutting edge of technology to not only protect its citizens but bring the crooks to justice. Well spent money by the City of Lancaster. I feel for the parents, we can only hope that there is some justice downtown," one person wrote.
The Los Angeles area is reportedly a hotbed for road rage.
A study from Crosstown, LA, found 870 cases of road rage in Los Angeles in 2022, the highest number in seven years, ABC 7 reported in February 2023. The study also found that the incidents became more violent, with 16% involving a gun in 2019, raising to 31% in 2021 and 2022.
"It feels like Americans have become increasingly less patient with one another – that they are stressed in ways that are bringing out a lot of negative emotions," Ryan Martin, a professor at the University of Wisconsin, told ABC 7.
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Road rage incidents continue to rise nationwide.
Everytown Research & Policy reported on sobering statistics related to road rage released by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. Per its report, roughly 80% of respondents reported experiencing at least one road rage incident in the month before the poll. When a gun is present during these experiences, it can go from simply frightening to deadly in a matter of seconds.
Everytown then looked at research from the Gun Violence Archive and surmised that in 2018, at least 70 people died from road rage shootings, and in 2022, the number rose to 141.
Thus far, police have opted not to release the identities of any of the individuals involved in this latest incident. It was unclear what charges the suspects may face.
