San Diego Man Shot on Freeway

A 27-year-old San Diego man was shot in the arm while riding in the front seat of a car on eastbound Interstate 8 early Monday morning, prompting authorities to shut down the freeway for several hours.

The shooting comes just days before the sentencing of a man convicted of assault with a firearm for shooting a 21-year-old college student as she drove on State Route 163 two years ago.

The driver in Monday's shooting, a 22-year-old San Diego woman, called 911 around 2 a.m. to report that she had been shot at while driving her 2010 Chevy Cobalt on eastbound I-8 near Texas Street, according to a California Highway Patrol news release.

Her passenger, the 27-year-old man, was taken to Scripps Mercy Hospital with a gunshot wound to his right arm. He was later released after treatment.

Officials shut down eastbound I-8 from SR 163 to Texas Street from 3:30 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. to investigate. So far, authorities don't have a description of the suspect vehicle or the number of people involved. Anyone with information is asked to call Investigator K. Jackman at 619-220-5492.

While the investigation into Monday's shooting continues, time winds down to the sentencing of Stephen Dragasits, a transient who in May was convicted of assault with a firearm for shooting a then-21-year-old University of San Diego student below her shoulder. The bullet lodged in her liver. Dragasits also was found guilty of striking the car of another driver.

He faces up to life in prison at his sentencing on Friday.