Four-year-old boy shot dead in LA road rage incident

‘This could have been any of our families. It could have been any of us,’ Lancaster Mayor R Rex Parris said

A four-year-old boy has died after he was shot in front of his parents during a road rage incident in Los Angeles.

The boy, who has not yet been named, was killed when two suspects allegedly chased down the victim’s family and shot at their vehicle as they drove through Los Angeles County on Friday night.

A 29-year-old man, identified as Byron Burkhurt, and a 27-year-old woman, named as Alexandria Gentile, who are said to have gang affiliations, have since been arrested on suspicion of murder, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement.

Authorities said that the family was driving on the Sierra Highway in Lancaster at around 7.30pm on Friday when they encountered the suspects in traffic.

“During the incident, the suspect driver cut them off and then began following them through several surface streets,” the LASD said.

“While being pursued by the suspects, the victim driver slowed his vehicle, at which time the suspect driver pulled up along the passenger side of the victim’s car and began shooting.”

A bullet struck the four-year-old child in the torso as he sat in the backseat of the vehicle, the LASD said.

A four-year-old boy died after he was shot in a road rage incident (ABC7)

The boy’s parents rushed him to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The child’s parents were not injured in the incident.

The suspects were tracked down hours later using licence plate recognition technology, Lancaster Mayor R Rex Parris said, according to ABC affiliate KABC.

The technology is intended to reduce crime by alerting law enforcement when a stolen or wanted vehicle enters city limits, he said.

“We know where they’ve been, we know where they’re going, so when a crime is committed, we can go back in time and find out where they are,” he said.

The two suspects, who the mayor said are affiliated with gangs, were taken into custody and have been booked on murder charges.

An investigation into the incident is still ongoing.

It is currently unclear what led up to the incident or whether or not the suspects have any connection to the boy's parents prior to Friday’s shooting.

Lancaster mayor R. Rex Parris described the incident as ‘unimaginable' (City of Lancaster via YouTube)

The mayor described the incident as “unimaginable”.

“This could have been any of our families. It could have been any of us,” he said.

The little boy’s death marks at least the second time in two days that a child has died from gun violence in the United States, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

On Saturday, a one-year-old baby was fatally shot at a home in Memphis, Tennessee, police said.

So far in 2023, at least 284 children aged 11 or younger have been killed in shootings in the US, according to the organisation.

In October, a study by researchers at Boston Children’s hospital found that children’s gun-related deaths have surged over the past decade, increasing by 87 per cent.