CHP searching for suspects in East Bay freeway shooting that killed 5-year-old girl
FREMONT, Calif. - A representative for a family whose child was killed in a freeway shooting in Fremont, said Monday that they are devastated by the crime that cut short the life of a 5-year-old girl.
California Highway Patrol investigators said they are using every resource at their disposal to solve the killing of Eliyanah. At the request of her family and police, her last name is being kept confidential.
"Any loss of life is a tragedy. And especially when you’re looking at a child this close to a holiday, this close to a birthday. Our hearts go out to the family and friends of this little girl," said Lt. Shawna Pacheco, of the CHP Golden Gate Division Investigative Services Unit.
Eliyanah was shot to death Saturday evening on Interstate 880 near the Dixon Road exit. She was riding in the car with her parents on the way out to a family birthday dinner when she was struck by gunfire, according to family friends and CHP.
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Pacheco said the family brought the mortally injured child to a nearby officer, saying she had been shot. Officers rushed the girl to a nearby hospital, but she was pronounced dead.
Shortly before the shooting, there was a possible gang-related shooting that occurred near Fremont Boulevard and Thornton Avenue, police said. Those suspects escaped before officers arrived at the scene.
Pacheco could not confirm whether the suspects in the second shooting were tied to the killing of Eliyanah.
Late Sunday, police in Santa Cruz posted on Facebook that they arrested three people possibly linked to two shootings in Fremont and the Bay Area – one of them involved the death of a child.
Interactive map: A look at Bay Area freeway shootings
"A reasonable person could put two and two together. But at this point we don’t have enough facts in order for us to definitively put the two together. And that’s why we’re working so closely with our allied agencies," said Pacheco.
Loved ones created a GoFundMe page to raise funds for Eliyanah's funeral services.
Jesse Gary is a reporter based in the station's South Bay bureau. Follow him on Twitter, @JesseKTVU and Instagram, @jessegontv.