Highway 101 was shut down in the Santa Maria area Monday night while authorities investigated a shooting incident on the freeway.
Shortly after 5 p.m., the California Highway Patrol received several reports of someone standing along the southbound lanes and shooting at passing vehicles, according to CHP Officer Benjamin Smith.
“The suspect was described as a heavy-set black male with their hair in a bun, wearing a dark-colored shirt,” Smith said.
Officers responded to the scene and began searching for the shooter, with the southbound traffic lanes shut down for public safety.
A vehicle was found stopped on the right shoulder of the freeway south of the Alvin Avenue overcrossing, and officers contacted a woman who was inside.
She told them her vehicle had broken down, and she was waiting for help, but officers noted that there were bullet casings scattered around the vehicle.
The woman, identified as Chappinette Lelani Ernia K. Martin, 33, of Los Angeles, was detained.
She told officers she had a weapon in the vehicle, and officers retrieved a loaded handgun, Smith said.
Meanwhile, officers were searching the surrounding area for additional suspects, but eventally concluded that Martin was the shooter, Smith said.
She was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, and booked into the Santa Barbara County Jail.
Martin reportedly is on probation, and was being held on a no-bail warrant out of Los Angeles.
There were no reports of anyone being injured by the shots that were fired.
All southbound lanes of the freeway were closed “due to police activity in the area,” with the left-hand lane reopeing at about 9:15 p.m. The other two lanes were reopened at about 10:30 p.m.
Later Monday evening, a man notified CHP officers about finding bullet holes in his food truck.
At least one law enforcement helicopter was dispatched to assist officers on the ground.
Officers from the Santa Maria Police Department assisted on the incident.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.