A road-rage dispute between two drivers near Jefferson Boulevard and Overland Avenue in Culver City erupted into a car-to-car shooting scare Thursday, though police say the handgun involved was designed to fire only blank ammunition. No live rounds went off, and nobody was hurt.
Culver City police officers responded about 11:45 a.m. to the intersection after reports of shots fired during a confrontation between the occupants of two vehicles, according to mynewsla.com. Witnesses told investigators the occupants of the two vehicles appeared to be feuding moments before one of the drivers fired two rounds from a black handgun.
Detectives searched the area and located both vehicles involved in the confrontation, the outlet reports. A subsequent examination determined the handgun used during the dispute was designed to fire blanks rather than live ammunition.
No Injuries, But Investigation Continues
According to culvercitycrossroads.com, no live rounds were fired and no injuries were reported in connection with the incident. Still, the circumstances leading to the confrontation remained under investigation, and police did not immediately say whether anyone was arrested.
The quick response from officers and detectives in tracking down both vehicles shows how seriously Culver City police treated the initial reports, even after it became clear no one had fired live ammunition. As Westside Current first reported, the case remains open as investigators work to piece together what sparked the roadway confrontation.
A Reminder That Road Rage Can Turn Deadly
Thursday's incident in Culver City echoes a far more serious case on the 110 Freeway in South Los Angeles, where a road-rage incident escalated into someone in a white sedan opening fire on another car, according to NBC Los Angeles. That shooting, which happened on the northbound 110 near Manchester at about 2:45 p.m., left the driver with a wound to her torso and a passenger hit in the elbow. Authorities in that case were searching for a white 2010 Nissan Maxima and believed the weapon used was a handgun.
No such injuries occurred in Culver City, but the two cases together underscore how quickly a dispute between drivers can turn into gunfire, whether real or, as in this case, blanks. Anyone with information about the Jefferson and Overland confrontation is asked to contact CCPD Sgt. John Tropeano at 310-253-6316 or [email protected].
