Family of Aiden Leos, Boy Shot Dead on Freeway, Offer $50K Reward to Help Find Killer
Relatives of a 6-year-old boy who was killed in an apparent road-rage shooting in California have announced a $50,000 reward for any information that could lead to the arrest of a suspect.
Aiden Leos was fatally shot in the city of Orange, California, at around 8:00 a.m. local time on Friday, by an individual who was reportedly driving a white Volkswagen station wagon on the 55 Freeway, close to Los Angeles.
The driver of the Volkswagen allegedly cut off the vehicle being driven by the child's mother, Joanna Cloonan, who said she reacted by flipping them off.
When Cloonan moved the vehicle into another lane on the freeway, a gunman sitting in the back of the station wagon allegedly opened fire on the car, and a bullet struck the child in the back.
"I tried to save him by calling 911, but he was losing a lot of blood... he just didn't deserve that. No one deserves that," Cloonan told KNSD-TV.
The California Highway Patrol has asked for assistance from anyone who was driving on the freeway between 7:55 a.m. and 8:15 a.m. on Friday, emphasising the importance of dashboard camera footage.
"It was an isolated road rage incident between the mom and another driver from a white sedan," California Highway Patrol Officer Florentino Olivera told Los Angeles news station KTLA-TV.
On a GoFundMe page set up to help pay for funeral expenses and provide support to Aiden's family, Carla Lacy, reportedly the child's step-grandmother, wrote that a $50,000 reward was being offered to help identify the shooter.
"Due to the outpouring love and support we have reached our goal. However we would like to continue to raise money that will go towards a reward in hopes of finding the individuals that took Aidens life," Lacy wrote in a post on the campaign page, which has raised more than $180,000.
The family is planning on using some of the funds donated to the fundraiser to pay for the reward, but Lacy told CBS Los Angeles that the amount might increase, depending on how much they can raise.
"We also realize it's important to use some of these funds to offer a reward to someone who may be holding back, that may have some information, to bring them forward because it is worth it," Lacy said.
California Highway Patrol officers continued to investigate the case over the weekend, with spokesman Tino Olivera telling The Orange County Register on Sunday: "They don't want to take any time off, because we want to solve this as soon as possible."
Newsweek has contacted the California Highway Patrol and Carla Lacy for comment.
