A 35-year-old man driving south on Orange Street in a 2004 Saturn sedan was shot Sunday night after exchanging words with one of two men crossing the street in Redlands, according to police. The driver turned left onto San Bernardino Avenue around 8:45 p.m. when the confrontation began, and as his car kept moving east, one of the men allegedly opened fire, striking both the vehicle and the driver.
The driver was hospitalized after being shot and has since been released, according to police. Details of the encounter come from Redlands police spokesperson Carl Baker, who told sbsun.com that the car was stopped at the time of the verbal altercation. Baker said the two men crossing the street were not using a crosswalk when the exchange of words turned violent moments later.
What Police Have Confirmed So Far
A passenger riding in the car with the driver was not injured, per the same account. Baker said one of the men allegedly fired at the car as it continued east on San Bernardino Avenue, with the gunfire hitting both the vehicle and the driver. Police officials declined Monday afternoon to share further details on what was actually said between the driver and the man before shots were fired.
As of Monday afternoon, Redlands police had not made any arrests and did not have suspect descriptions to share, the station's report notes. That leaves open basic questions about who fired the shots and why the roadside exchange escalated so quickly.
Not the First Street-Level Shooting in Redlands
Sunday's shooting adds to a string of street violence that has periodically rattled Redlands in recent years. In April 2024, a 40-year-old man suffered multiple gunshot wounds after witnesses said he confronted a suspect on Park Avenue south of Redlands Boulevard, as sbsun.com reported at the time. And in March, Redlands police investigated two separate Sunday-night shootings tied to reports of a dark-colored sedan, though officers said they could not confirm whether the same car was involved in both, according to Redlands Daily Facts.
An older case from 2010 described a similarly jarring scene: a 33-year-old San Jacinto driver was shot in the back after men in two vehicles followed him from Long Beach to Redlands, with his passenger escaping injury, per a report from redlandsdailyfacts.com. None of these past incidents has been linked by investigators to Sunday's shooting, and police have not said whether they see any connection between the cases.
For now, the investigation into Sunday's shooting remains open, with no suspects named and no arrests announced. Anyone with information has not yet been given a specific avenue for tips in the reporting so far, and police have indicated only that the inquiry continues.
