1:23pm | Police have identified two men found shot to death in a vehicle on the 405 Freeway in Long Beach late Saturday night.
The bodies of Reginald Watson Sojonas, 37, of Anaheim, and Derek Alexander Pouono, 36, of Long Beach, were discovered just before 10 p.m. on Saturday, May 28, on the right shoulder of the northbound 405 just north of the Long Beach Boulevard exit, according to information provided by Long Beach Police Department Sgt. Rico Fernandez, a department spokesman.
Both the LBPD and the California Highway Patrol are investigating.
The CHP was notified that two dead bodies were in a vehicle on the freeway at that location at about 9:30 p.m. After CHP officers arrived at the scene, the LBPD was notified and subsequently took over the investigation, Fernandez said.
The officers said they heard gunfire coming from a southbound vehicle shortly after arriving at the scene, but authorities believe those shots were not related to the double-homicide.
The CHP shut down all northbound lanes of the freeway from Atlantic Avenue to the 710 Freeway at about 10 p.m. for roughly four hours following the discovery, with traffic being diverted at Atlantic, Fernandez said.
All southbound lanes of the 405 were also closed down at the freeway’s intersection with the 710.
Authorities had not yet confirmed whether the incident was a car-to-car shooting, Fernandez said, but the vehicle was marred by bullet holes.
There was no description of a possible suspect or suspects available.
Anyone with information relative to this incident is urged to call LBPD Homicide Detectives Mark McGuire or Mark Bigel at 562-570-7244. Anonymous tips can be left via text or e-mail by visiting the department’s website at LongBeach.gov/police.