3-Year-Old Girl Found Inside SUV With Her Father Shot Dead Behind The Wheel

A 3-year-old girl was found inside an SUV with her father shot dead behind the wheel on a freeway in California.

The incident happened earlier this week. The father, identified as Carlos Ortiz Jr., 41, of Lathrop, was pronounced dead at the scene, and the little girl was returned to her family.

California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers arrived at the scene after a traffic collision on southbound I-5 and SR-120 was reported Tuesday, CHP-Stockton said in a news release.

Officers arrived to find two occupants inside the white SUV. The father was found with a gunshot wound while the passenger, his 3-year-old daughter, was unharmed, according to the Sacramento Bee.

"Officers discovered that the driver, a 41-year-old male out of Lathrop, had suffered a single gunshot wound," the CHP wrote in a statement. "Life-saving measures were conducted, however, the driver succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced deceased on scene."

The uninjured child was safely reunited with her family, ABC10 reported.

"We want to assure the public that these acts of violence are not random but often targeted attacks between parties that know each other," Captain Mel Hutsell, commander of CHP's Stockton Area Office, said in the release.

"We take these types of incidents very serious and are committed to ensuring public safety," Hutsell added.

Officers have so far not identified a vehicle or suspect involved in the father's death.

The CHP said it has taken "several proactive steps" in light of the increase in highway violence, which includes freeway shootings. These steps include "redeploying staff, adding to investigative teams, involvement in zero-tolerance gang enforcement operations, and increasing communication at all levels among the involved law enforcement agencies and community leaders," the statement said.

CHP officials also said that it is their mission to provide the "highest level of Safety, Service, and Security."

In an unrelated incident reported in September, a 2-year-old boy was found inside a stolen SUV hours after his father was shot in a Texas parking lot. The father had met another man and had an argument with him before he was fatally shot. The suspect then fled the scene in the father's vehicle with the toddler inside. Police later tracked down the vehicle and found the child deceased inside.