Two Orange County, California, supervisors are together offering $100,000 in additional reward money — bringing the total to $150,000 — as authorities continue to search for the person who fatally shot 6-year-old Aiden Leos in an apparent road-rage incident.
"It’s time for justice for Aiden Leos’s family. Aiden was fatally shot in Orange while on his way to school in Yorba Linda; both cities are in the District I represent," Supervisor Dan Wagner, whose office contributed $50,000, said in a tweet on Tuesday.
He wrote in another post, "Let’s identify the killer of innocent Aiden Leos. What happened is heartbreaking."
Supervisor Katrina Foley, whose office on Tuesday announced an additional $50,000 contribution toward the reward fund, said she hoped the combined fund "adds 150,000 reasons to encourage the public to send in any tips and information they might have, directly leading to the arrests of the individuals involved in Aiden’s death.”
Wagner and Foley said their rewards will add to a $50,000 reward the family was already offering for information that leads to the shooter.
Aiden was shot and killed Friday morning after a gunman opened fire on his mother's car while they were traveling northbound on the 55 freeway in Orange.
California Highway Patrol Officer Florentino Olivera said that there had been "some type of road-rage incident" involving the boy's mother and another motorist prior to the shooting.
"Unfortunately, the boy in the back seat was shot," Olivera said.
Olivera said he had limited details on what exactly happened but said at a news conference that authorities were looking for a newer white Volkswagen station wagon.
The boy's mother, Joanna Cloonan, said that a Volkswagen driven by a woman with a man in the passenger's seat cut her off on the freeway. As she was merging away from the vehicle, she heard a loud noise followed by her son saying "Ow."
"He had been shot," she said. "And I tried to save him."
The bullet entered the vehicle through the trunk and struck Aiden, who was in a booster seat in the back.
"He just didn't deserve that. No one deserves that," Cloonan said. "I want them to pay for what they've done."
