A Joshua Tree man is in custody following a shooting and crash in Yucca Valley Wednesday morning. Sheriff’s Sergeant Jim Thornburg said Joseph Rojas, 20, was arguing with Terry Hill, 26, and Elaina Bixon, 21, in the 55600 block of Pueblo Trail, when Rojas pulled out a handgun and shot Hill, grazing him in the head. As Rojas left the scene, he fired a shot at Bixon, hitting her in the leg. 911 calls at 9:22 reported two shots had been fired. Thornburg said Rojas then got into a white Mitsubishi, with Alicia Bravo, 39, of Beaumont, in the passenger seat. Rojas drove toward Onaga Trail, and then north on Warren Vista. Witnesses called 911 to report a man driving erratically, and one woman followed the suspect to give his location to deputies. Thornburg said while deputies were responding to the scene of the shooting, they received a report of a car crash at the intersection of Warren Vista and Yucca Trail involving a car that matched the description of the fleeing white Mitsubishi. Witnesses said Rojas drove through the stop sign without stopping. Deputies located the handgun inside the Mitsubishi. Terry Hill and Elaina Bixon were taken to Desert Hospital in Palm Springs. Bravo in the car with Rojas had to be extricated using the Jaws of Life; she suffered a neck injury in the crash and remains hospitalized at Hi-Desert Medical Center. It’s unknown at this time what her involvement is with the shooting. The driver of the other vehicle was treated at the scene and released. Joseph Rojas, who sustained minor injuries, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, booked into the Morongo Basin Jail, with his bail set at $1 million.
