LA MESA (CBS 8) — A 20-year-old was riding in a car when he was shot by someone in another car that pulled up alongside.
It happened around 4 a.m. Sunday morning on Interstate 8 near Fletcher Parkway in La Mesa.
"We received a call about a potential gun shot victim on the freeway," said Kevin Pearlstein of the El Cajon CHP.
The driver of a 2005 Infiniti Q45 couldn't get his rear window to roll up, so he and his friends pulled over at Denny's on 70th street to try and fix it.
After they were unsuccessful, they got back on the freeway.
That's when the 20-year-old male driver from San Diego heard a large pop.
"He thought maybe he blew a tire," said Pearlstein . "[Then] he heard several loud noises coming from his vehicle."
Those noises were gun shots - five rounds - aimed right at them.
Gary Johnson who lives along the freeway says the randomness of the crime is extremely disturbing.
"We have two daughters that live here," said Johnson. "If they happened upon somebody like that I would be... I can't even imagine."
One of the gunshots hit an innocent man sitting in the back seat - the 20-year-old from Lancaster just happened to be sitting near that window that wouldn't roll up.
The driver meanwhile, managed to get away from the freeway shooter by swerving into the center divide.
They later found a police unit near the SR-125 and Jackson Drive.
The gunshot victim struck in the right shoulder was rushed to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
No one else was hurt.
"I think we live in a world there is a tiny percentage that do awful things," said La Mesa resident Bruce Chase. "My reaction is it's a singular event."
Authorities will be reviewing the surveillance footage from Denny's and other businesses this week to try and identify the driver and the car.
The victim who was shot is expected to be ok and released from the hospital soon.
The CHP asked anyone with information to contact them at the El Cajon Area Office at 619-401-2000.