Driver Fleeing Attackers Shot, Killed After Hitting Firetruck

A motorist apparently fleeing from gang members was shot to death early Sunday after his car collided with a firetruck near the USC campus, police said.

The victim tried to run from the scene but was “felled by multiple gunshots” fired by a masked man in a pursuing car as firefighters looked on, Los Angeles police Detective Dick Simmons said.

The gunman escaped.

Jose Valenzuela, 22, was pronounced dead on arrival at California Medical Center shortly after the 2:10 a.m. incident.

“This appears to be a gang-related shooting,” Simmons said.

Police said the chase began after Valenzuela and an 18-year-old friend were shot at from a passing vehicle carrying at least two other men while they sat in their car at a gas station at Hoover and 23rd streets.

Valenzuela and his companion then drove south on Hoover, toward the USC campus 10 blocks away, with the gunman’s car following, Simmons said. When the speeding cars turned onto West Jefferson Boulevard, however, they encountered a firetruck pulling into Fire Station 15 after completing an emergency run.

Although a firefighter was in the street stopping traffic, “the first vehicle struck the firetruck as it was backing into quarters,” Los Angeles City Fire Department spokesman Greg Acevedo said.

The two men got out and ran as a passenger in the second car, wearing a ski mask, exited with a shotgun and began firing. Firefighters immediately called police, but Valenzuela was felled on the sidewalk near the northern border of the USC campus, Simmons said. No one else was hurt, he said.

Police said they did not know the identity of the gunman or the motive for the shooting.

There was only minor damage to the firetruck, Acevedo said.