A gun battle erupted during rush-hour traffic when police went up against a man armed with a rifle.
A horrific gun battle erupted on a Southern California freeway overpass during rush-hour traffic Monday, leaving a California Highway Patrol officer and the suspect dead, and two other injured.
The situation arose during a routine traffic stop on Interstate 216 in Riverside. Police said the deadly shooting started after Officer Andre Moye pulled over the suspect's vehicle and attempted to impound it. The officer was filling out paperwork when the man grabbed a rifle from his truck and started firing, killing the officer.
Responding officers took cover and returned fire.
Heart-stopping footage shows a wounded CHP officer being pulled to safety, while stunned motorists were caught in the hail of bullets.
After the firefight, police shot and killed gunman Aaron Luther, who had served time in prison for attempted murder.
Investigators were still on the scene Tuesday putting the pieces of the puzzle together. The gunman's bullet-riddled truck is still on the freeway overpass.
Witness Jennifer Moctezuma said bullets tore through her car window, narrowly missing her twin 6-year-old boys.
“It hit straight through my windshield, missing my head and my two children in back,” she told Inside Edition.
Moctezuma said she was paralyzed by fear when Marine veteran Charles Childruss, who was in another car, came to her rescue.
“I heard the kids scream,” she said.
The Marine took them behind their car's engine block.
“I call him my guardian hero. I’m just thankful he came to save us,” she said.
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