A routine call about a disabled vehicle on Interstate 480 quickly escalated into a homicide investigation after police discovered the car riddled with bullet holes and a young father dead inside.
Just after 7 a.m. Saturday, a passerby reported a Toyota Corolla stopped along the side of the interstate. When Bedford Heights police arrived, they found 19-year-old Johndiel Rivera slumped inside, fatally shot.
“From the officers’ standpoint, you’re just going to check on a car that may have a flat tire,” said Detective Dontai Edmondson of the Bedford Heights Police Department. “You get up there, and there is a deceased victim in the car.”
Investigators believe Rivera was deliberately targeted rather than being the victim of a random act or road rage incident. Authorities say the first round of gunfire struck his vehicle around 3:50 a.m. About 30 minutes later, the same suspect vehicle allegedly returned and fired more rounds into the car.
“It doesn’t seem like a road rage incident—it seems like a hit or a targeted attack,” Edmondson said.
Police are continuing to investigate and are urging anyone with information to come forward.