91 Freeway Shooting: Standoff, Police Chase on 91 Freeway Following Shooting in Santa Ana, Orange County, CA
91 Freeway Accident – A heavy police incident gripped the eastbound 91 Freeway near Yorba Linda, California, on Sunday, March 9, 2025, grinding traffic to a standstill and snarling motorists from Corona to Orange County, following a deadly shooting earlier that day in Santa Ana.
It kicked off late Sunday morning—exact time still murky—when authorities swarmed the freeway near the Imperial Highway exit, lights flashing and lanes blocked, in response to the violent spillover from Santa Ana’s streets.
“It’s a mess out here, nowhere to go,” a stranded driver said, peering at the sea of brake lights stretching back toward Riverside County, a snapshot of a day turned upside down.
The trouble started in Santa Ana, some 20 miles southwest, where a shooting left at least one person dead—details on who, why, or how many shots fired remain locked tight by police as night falls. By midday, the chase or the suspect trail led cops to the 91, a major artery linking LA’s sprawl to the Inland Empire, and they shut it down hard near Yorba Linda’s edge.
Corona drivers, caught in the ripple, sat idling miles back, some giving up and U-turning on shoulders where they could. “You don’t expect this on a Sunday,” another motorist grumbled, stuck near the 71 interchange, a sentiment echoing through the gridlock that’s tested patience and fuel gauges alike.
What’s the link? Authorities aren’t saying much—maybe a fleeing shooter, maybe a witness chase, but the heavy presence hints at something big. Yorba Linda’s usually a quiet pocket—leafy streets, not freeway shootouts—so this feels off-script, even for a region that’s seen its share of 91 chaos.
Santa Ana’s got a rougher rep, sure, but a killing jumping counties to clog a Sunday freeway raises eyebrows. “It’s got to be connected, right?” a Corona local mused, watching choppers buzz overhead, a question the cops haven’t answered yet beyond confirming the shooting’s deadly toll and the freeway’s lockdown.
Response was massive—California Highway Patrol, Santa Ana PD, maybe Orange County Sheriff’s too, all hands on deck, shutting eastbound lanes tight by noon. Traffic’s a standstill from Weir Canyon Road back past the 15, with no word on when it’ll crack open—hours, at least, if past 91 snarls are any guide.
“They’ve got it boxed in good,” a tow truck driver said, eyeing the barricades near Yorba Linda Boulevard, where officers waved off detours that couldn’t handle the load. Corona folks, stuck west of the mess, and Yorba Linda locals peering from overpasses got the same view—a freeway turned parking lot, a shooting’s aftermath spilling wide.
Sunday night’s creeping in, and the 91’s still a ghost town eastbound—no updates on the Santa Ana victim’s name, no suspect in cuffs, just a freeway choked and a case unfolding slow. Motorists are fuming, some tweeting their woes, others resigned to the wait, but the why’s what gnaws: Was this a planned hit gone mobile, a random blast that found the highway, or something else?
“Feels like there’s more to it,” a commuter said, stuck near Green River Road, summing up the unease. Police are promising more when they’ve got it, but for now, it’s Andres Fonseca’s shooting up in Rogers yesterday, and now this—a weekend of bullets, and a freeway paying the price.
