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Police Hunt Suspect Who Fired Several Shots At Off-Duty Officer

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — Police are actively searching for the gunman who fired several shots Sunday morning at an off-duty police officer.

The shooting occurred about 5:30 a.m. as the officer was leaving work.

CHP says the unidentified officer was riding in his own car on the 5 Freeway -- between Los Feliz and Western Boulevards -- when several shots rang out.

The officer was not injured.

But Randy Paige, reporting for CBS2 and KCAL9, spoke to Bill Murphy, commander of the Northeast division who said, "Any time someone shoots at an officer, of course, it concerns us greatly. We have our best detectives working on this case."

Police are also trying to determine if the officer was targeted -- there have been many gang busts of late -- or whether the crime was random.

Paige reports, "The LAPD is pulling out all the stops to find out."

The shots reportedly came from a black vehicle.

Part of the 5 Freeway was shut from 7 to 8:15 a.m. while police investigated and gathered evidence.

Said Murphy, "You can't shoot at police officers and get away with it. Hopefully we can solve this one rather quickly."

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