CHP investigating three shootings in 24 hours
The California Highway Patrol is investigating two shootings that occurred Tuesday night on San Jose area freeways, a day after a fatal shooting Monday night on Interstate 680.
On Wednesday morning, CHP Officer Ross Lee said there was no evidence to indicate the shootings were connected. The two shootings that occurred Tuesday may have been road-rage incidents, he added.
The most recent shooting reportedly occurred sometime between 10 and 10:30 p.m. Tuesday. Based on preliminary information, two motorists were driving north on Highway 85. One driver reported that the other vehicle was tailgating his car as he was transitioning to southbound Highway 17, Lee said.
The driver who reported the shooting said he heard a thud that sounded like an object hitting his vehicle. When the man arrived at his home, he noticed a bullet hole in the left rear door. He opened that door, and a spent bullet fell out. He called authorities and handed over the bullet.
About two hours earlier, a shooting was reported about 8:40 p.m. on southbound I- 680 near King Road, Lee said.
A driver was traveling on I- 680 near where it turns into I-280 when a white car pulled up alongside her and the driver brandished a black gun, Lee said. She went into the right shoulder of the highway, then back into the lane. The white vehicle pulled up again, and the driver again held up the gun. This time, she said, a bullet was fired at her car, shattering the left rear window and exiting the right front window. A 12-year- old passenger suffered cuts from broken glass, Lee said.
The driver got off the freeway and waited for CHP officers to arrive.
“Right now we are operating on the belief this was a car-to- car incident,” Lee said.
About 10 p.m. Monday, CHP officers responded to reports of shots fired on I- 680 near Landess Avenue in Milpitas. They found 30-year- old Milpitas resident Matthew Rios dead behind the wheel of a Toyota in the median.
Lee said Rios had been shot at least once, and the wound did not appear to be self-inflicted.
Anyone with information about these cases is asked to contact the CHP at 408- 467-5400, or through a 24-hour tip line at 717-9174491.