Jun 16, 2008 9:32 pm US/Pacific
LAPD Still Searching For Fugitive, His 2 Sons
LOS ANGELES
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Police Monday spoke with Jose Luis Ortega, but he and his two sons were still missing.
CBS
Police Monday said they spoke with a fugitive who allegedly shot his estranged wife and kidnapped their 3- and 5-year-old sons, but the man remained at large Monday with his children.
Jose Luis Ortega, 27, allegedly shot his wife as many as a dozen times around 10:45 a.m. Sunday when they got into an argument as she was dropping off their sons at his home in the 10400 block of McBroom Street in Shadow Hills near Hansen Dam, according to police.
He fled with the boys in a 1998 black Ford Ranger pickup truck that was found about 11:10 p.m. Sunday at 110th Street East and Avenue J-8 in Lancaster.
His wife, who is in her 20s, remains hospitalized in critical condition, according to Officer Karen Smith of the Los Angeles Police Department's Media Relations unit.
Late Sunday night, investigators called Ortega's cell phone number and he answered, LAPD Lt. William Matthews said. The suspect hung up, after telling police his sons were unharmed, Matthews said.
Neighbor Rebecca Rinot said she witnessed the shooting.
"He was leaning through the window and he was pushing on her and saying 'What are you going to do about it?' and his voice was raising," she said.
Another neighbor said she "just heard a bunch of shots, like three or four, and then about four or five more."
Although the victim suffered multiple gunshot wounds, she was still coherent enough to tell police who allegedly attacked her, Rinot said.
"And he said 'Who did this to you?' and she said Jose Luis," Rinot said.
An Amber Alert was issued for the boys -- 3-year-old Luis Gonzalo Ortega and 5-year-old Diego Fabian Ortega -- but it was canceled after the suspect's vehicle was found.
Ortega, who is Hispanic, 5 feet 6 inches and 180 pounds, is "considered to be armed and dangerous," Matthews said. "There's a firearm that is still outstanding that we're very concerned about."
He said Ortega has ties in Mexico, as well as in the Las Vegas area.
Ortega has been arrested before, but never for a violent offense, and there was no record of domestic violence, although his wife had been living with her family.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)
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