(This story was updated with new information.)
One person is dead on Highway 74 near Anza on Tuesday, June 2, after a series of events that also included a traffic crash and an apparent road rage incident.
CHP Officer Rick Palomera said a dispatch center was first contacted about a crash and reports of shots fired on Highway 74 near Pinyon Pines at about 2:10 p.m. Tuesday. The caller reported that the situation involved a tow truck and two other vehicles.
Officers later determined that the vehicles were involved in a crash and an alleged “road rage” incident near the bottom of Highway 74 in Palm Desert. Palomera said the tow truck then continued westbound on Highway 74 and eventually went through a road construction closure near the intersection of Palm Canyon Drive, near Pinyon Pines. One person was eventually shot by another inside the construction area.
The person who was shot was transported to Desert Regional Hospital and later pronounced dead. Palomera said another person was detained by police and was still being interviewed by investigators on Tuesday night. He declined to elaborate on who that was.
Palomera said he did not believe that anyone had been injured in the earlier crash but that he did not know that definitively.
Highway 74 road closure
CHP initially closed a 20-mile section of Highway 74 between Palm Desert and State Route 371 near Anza.
The agency reported around 6 p.m. that the closure would last six to 10 hours, with Palomera later telling The Desert Sun that it was anticipated it would take officers that long to finish processing the scene. However, CHP posted on its Traffic Incident Page at around 10 p.m. that the closure area had been reduced to between State Route 371 and Palm Canyon Drive near Pinyon Pines, a stretch of about eight miles.
Paul Albani-Burgio covers growth, development and business in the Coachella Valley. Email him at paul.albani-burgio@desertsun.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: CHP says one dead in crash, apparent ‘road rage’ incident on Hwy. 74
Reporting by Paul Albani-Burgio, Palm Springs Desert Sun / Palm Springs Desert Sun
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