California Motorists On Edge

Southern Calif. Police Form Task Force After Spate Of Shootings

(CBS/AP)  With eight shootings in two months and four people dead, Southern California highways are starting to feel like the Wild West. Now, the state Highway Patrol has created an investigative team to more quickly track down leads in the cases, none of which appear to be connected.

The new unit will work with local law enforcement agencies as troopers also increase their patrols on the region's freeways, officials said. Four people have been killed in 11 freeway shootings this year.

But, as CBS News Correspondent Sandra Hughes reports, the recent string of shootings spans three counties, necessitating the task force.

Even as they announced the stepped-up enforcement efforts, officials released figures showing that despite media coverage in recent weeks, there have actually been two fewer freeway shootings this year than in the same period last year.

"We don't want the public to think there's an onslaught" of shootings, said Assistant Chief Art Acevedo. "We are actually on pace to have fewer shootings this year, and remember, these shootings are taking place in three counties that are heavily traveled with high populations."

But CBS' Hughes reports that the police's urging motorists to be calm appalls the parents of 20-year-old shooting victim Michael Livingston.

"It is something we should all be afraid of," Michael's mother, Christina Livingston, said. "The idea of getting in a car and driving on a freeway and getting caught unaware and fired upon."

However, according to data released by authorities, there were 36 freeway shootings, with one person killed, in 2004. In 2003, there were 46 incidents and four fatalities.

And, Hughes reports, road rage is certainly nothing new. The term was coined back in 1987 when there were 40 freeway shootings in just six weeks.

The latest shooting came during the afternoon commute Monday on Highway 14 in the Newhall Pass area, when a bullet pierced a windshield of a sport utility vehicle.

"He heard a pop, he saw what appeared to be a black Accura or Honda Accord in front of him. He then saw the windshield crack, at which time he determined he may have had a round fired at him," CHP officer Armando Clemente said.

The male driver, the only one in the vehicle, was not injured.

"It's been frustrating for law enforcement agencies out here because the crime scene is always moving," reports KCBS-TV's Greg Phillips. "It's difficult to track down these drivers, and it's difficult for victims to really get a good ID on suspects and get any plates."