What to Know
- Officer Andre Moye, Jr. was killed during a traffic stop when a driver pulled out a rifle and opened fire near a Riverside freeway.
- Moye had been with the highway patrol for about three years and was a motorcycle officer for about a year.
- The fatally wounded officer called for backup and responding officers engaged in a gunfight with the 49-year-old shooter.
An ex-convict who fatally shot a California Highway Patrol officer and wounded two other officers in Riverside this month fired at least 100 rounds from a rifle before he was killed, police said Thursday.
Ryan Railsback, a spokesman for the Riverside Police Department, said the gunman fired at least over 100 rounds. His weapon's magazine held 120 rounds of ammo.
The gunbattle erupted Aug. 12 as CHP Officer Andre Moye Jr. was impounding a vehicle from Aaron Luther, who had been driving alone in a freeway carpool lane with an expired license and no registration. Luther suddenly pulled a rifle from his truck and opened fire. Moye was fatally wounded and a lengthy gunbattle ensued before Luther was shot to death.
Railsback said that authorities were working with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to learn whether Luther, an ex-con, was connected to any prison-based gangs.
"We don't know if he had ties to [the Aryan Brotherhood] or to a motorcycle gang, or any group," Railsback said. "We do know that he spent a lot of time in state prison."
