The children, eight months old and a 9-year-old, either fell or were thrown out of a moving vehicle, said Luis Quintero, a California Highway Patrol officer and spokesman. A 911 caller told authorities that a black sedan was seen in the area where the girls were found. The older child suffered moderate injuries.

About 30 minutes later, in Redondo Beach, a dark-colored Porsche Cayenne SUV hit 100 mph before crashing into a tree on Pacific Coast Highway at Vincent Street, authorities said, killing the sole occupant, the mother, Danielle Cherakiyah Johnson, 34.

Law enforcement learned about the tragedies over time.

The girls were found abandoned about 4:30 a.m. on the freeway near Centinela Avenue, the sedan crashed, and then, around 7:30 a.m., Jaelen Allen Chaney, 29, was found unresponsive at the apartment building in the 6200 block of Variel Avenue and pronounced dead, Los Angeles police Officer Kevin Terzes said.

A man who lived next door to the family of four and discovered Chaney’s body told NBC Los Angeles reporters that he “saw two legs that were on the floor, so I called 911 and said, ‘Something bad has happened here.’”

“I went outside of our unit, and I saw blood on the floor,” the neighbor, Richard Berglund said. “I started calling in there and said, ‘Hello? Hello? Is anybody there?’ And nobody answered.”

A knife with forensic evidence was found at the scene.

Around 12:30 p.m., the man entered the HomeStreet Bank in the 200 block of South Lake Avenue and passed a teller a note demanding money, Pasadena Police Lt. Matt Campeau said. Multiple employees inside the bank were able to trigger a silent alarm and the suspect fled on foot before he was able to abscond with any money.

While responding to the robbery, authorities learned that First Citizens, a nearby bank in the 100 block of South Lake Avenue, had been hit prior, with the man in that crime also passing a note to a teller.

The suspect was able to make off with some cash during the first robbery, police said, though an exact figure was not available.

The man was spotted near the intersection of Lake Avenue and Green Street and arrested, Campeau said. Cash and a note similar to the one that was handed to the teller were found in his possession.

No weapons were used during either robbery and no injuries were reported.

Nope, it was just fake news on April Fools’ Day, dished out Monday on social media by the normally straight-laced folks who serve as public information officials in some of Southern California’s police departments and other public agencies.

In Irvine, police jokingly said that traditional patrol cars would soon be replaced with a fleet of Tesla Model Y SUVs, in part because the Tesla’s standard pearl white paint scheme, low-profile lighting and a nearly silent engine would help officers “blend into the community and sneak up on criminals with ease.”

“A white Tesla? Perfect camouflage for Irvine,” was one resident’s reply on Facebook.

Police responded, asking residents to wish them luck with “finding our cars at Costco.”

In Anaheim, police announced a return to historical methods of policing with the rollout of officers, mounted on horses, transporting arrestees via paddy wagon.

“It saves on gas,” a woman replied.

Out in Riverside County, sheriff’s officials at the Moreno Valley Station announced that their captain had given his station the day off, asking residents in the meantime to “play nice, get along, commit no crime, stay healthy, and call us tomorrow if you need anything!”

One woman on Facebook jokingly responded to sheriff’s officials announcement that the ticket she had gotten that morning must have been from an imposter and that the ticket would be voided.

Even National Weather Service officials came out with an announcement on a new graphics map, an eye-sore inducing map that included the names of any and every city — big or small — across the Southern California region, making it practically impossible to decipher.

Thankfully, all these announcements were the product of public service officials jumping in on the Aprils Fools’ Day fun.

“We do this every year to engage with our community,” said Anaheim police Sgt. Jon McClintock. “Just our light-hearted way of doing some comedy about the job.”

While the social media posts were mostly for laughs, McClintock said that there always are a couple calls to their department asking if the announcements are true.

“One Aprils Fools’, we said that we would be introducing a police hot air balloon to our fleet, and there were few people calling and asking us when and where they could see it,” McClintock said.

This year, however, there was some truth to Anaheim’s announcement, with the department currently looking to implement a full-time mounted officer program.

“No, we are not bringing back paddy wagons,” he said. “Aside from these April Fools’ jokes, mounted officers are another great community engagement tool and something we are exploring.”

At about 1:40 p.m., the driver of a 2019 Kia — carrying five other people — was heading south along the freeway, amid a heavy downpour, when the vehicle hydroplaned near Halloran Springs Road, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The Kia traveled across the southbound lanes, across the median and into the northbound lanes where it collided head-on with a 2016 Mercedes SUV with four people inside.

A woman and a 13-year-old boy inside the Kia — both passengers and residents of Madera, a town near Fresno — along with an 11-year-old Los Angeles boy who was in the Mercedes were killed.

The San Bernardino County Coroner’s Office identified the woman as Alicia M. Ramos. The boys’ names had not been announced.

Seven others were taken to hospitals, authorities said.

Staff writer Brian Rokos contributed to this report.

Christopher Jacob Lennox was arrested on suspicion of murder, attempted murder, discharging a firearm causing great bodily injury, being a felon in possession of a firearm and inflicting corporal injury on a spouse or co-habitant, according to the Riverside County jail log.

He was being held in lieu of $1 million bail.

The woman remained in critical condition on Monday, said Officer Ryan Railsback, a Police Department spokesman.

Police identified the man Wednesday as 75-year-old Robert Joe Mageno of Riverside, described as a roommate of Lennox.

The shooting was reported around 3 p.m. in the 7600 block of Canberra Way in a gated Riverside neighborhood, Mission Grove. Lennox lives in that home and his girlfriend was visiting, Railsback said.

“An argument ensued, and he grabbed the gun and shot both of them,” Railsback said, adding that he did not know why they were arguing.

Lennox shot his girlfriend first, but she fled the room and ran outside of the home and across the street. Mageno stepped out of his room and Lennox shot him, Railsback said Wednesday.

Lennox knew everyone who was there, Railsback said. Railsback said the suspect and victim lived at the home with other roommates, but whether any others were home at the time of the shooting was not known.

Mageno was pronounced dead at the scene. Lennox surrendered without resisting, Railsback said.

Police found a handgun inside the home that was believed to have been used in the shooting, Railsback said.

It was unclear if the shooting, at around 7:40 p.m., was intentional or an accident.

For update, see: Coroner rules suicide in death of 17-year-old who shot herself in station

The girl, who ABC7 reported was 17 years old, walked up to the station lobby, at 150 Hudson Ave., and knocked on the door, sheriff’s Lt. Art Spencer said. Two deputies walked to the lobby and opened the door.

As she entered, she reached for a deputy’s holstered gun and got the weapon, the lieutenant said.

During a struggle with the deputy, Spencer said, the girl shot herself in her upper body.

Firefighters pronounced her dead at the scene.

Authorities hadn’t yet release the girl’s age and city of residence. As of Monday, the medical examiner’s office had not publicly identified her.

No shots were fired by deputies.

“The deputies are OK,” Spencer told reporters, including one with KTLA. “It is an unfortunate situation for everyone involved.”

At 7:25 p.m., before the shooting, deputies went to a call of a family disturbance in the 300 block of Clintwood Avenue in La Puente. The girl had left and it was unclear where she went, and her foster parents reported she was suffering from an apparent mental-health crisis, Spencer said.

The station is about a mile from the home.

It serves Industry, La Puente, La Habra Heights, Valinda, East and West Valinda, Bassett and Hacienda Heights.

The showers arrived in the afternoon over the region, dropping a small amount of rain along the coastline in Orange County, said National Weather Service meteorologist Mark Moede. Newport Beach, Seal Beach and Laguna Beach officials announced that beaches would be closed in the afternoon after reports of lightning strikes.

The afternoon showers were a result of a large system over Arizona that is “so big it is wrapping moisture around it,” Moede said. “The system is carrying that moisture all the way to the Pacific Ocean. Over the deserts, over the Riverside, San Bernardino and Orange County mountains.”

Here are the total #lightning strikes so far (purple is cloud to cloud and in cloud while orange is cloud to ground) #cawx #socal pic.twitter.com/IzT1BUBV3m

— NWS San Diego (@NWSSanDiego) March 18, 2024

While no beach closures had been announced in Los Angeles County in the afternoon, thunder strikes and light hail were reported over the San Gabriel Valley area, said NWS meteorologist Rose Schoenfeld.

Rain and thunderstorms were also reported over the Inland Empire, though they were not as heavy as along the coastline.

The storm was a fast-moving system — with the heaviest rainfall totaling around quarter inch in Anaheim — and light, scattered showers were expected to persist through the evening as the system continues on its path south.

Deputies were called to the residence in the 13400 block of Iroquois Road on Saturday after a family member reported the teen was attempting to attack people in the home, according to a partial 911 call released by the Sheriff’s Department. The woman on the call told dispatch that the teen, Ryan Gainer, was hitting his sister.

“They’ve got to take him in, they’ve got to,” the woman told dispatch, adding that the teen had broken a window in the home and had a piece of glass near his neck. A loud commotion could be heard in the background.

When the first arriving deputy attempted to enter the front door, Gainer began charging toward him with a five-foot-long garden tool with a bladed edge, body-worn camera footage release by authorities on Wednesday shows.

With his gun raised, the deputy shouted, “Hey get back! Get back or you’re gonna get shot!”

Meanwhile, the deputy attempted to retreat outside the house.

But Gainer continues to run toward the deputy, still armed with the tool, as the deputy turns around, his torso facing the boy, aiming his gun behind him, the footage shows.

A second deputy arrived just as Gainer and the first deputy leave the house, and at least three rounds were then fired by the deputies, Dicus said.

Family members then rushed out of the house, with some shouting at deputies, “Why would you shoot my baby?” and “Where was your Taser?”

Deputies attempted to perform live-saving measures on Gainer, who was pronounced dead at the scene.

An attorney representing the family, Dewitt Lacy, previously told ABC7 News that Gainer had autism and was acting out after a dispute over doing household chores.

“Ryan is a 15-year-old with autism, and sometimes in order to release stress or if he he’s a little too worked up, he’ll go on a run,” Lacy told ABC7. “When he came back, there was a dispute that arose because he wanted to play video games, and he needed to do his chores, and he started acting out.”

Lacy did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Responding to criticism of the shooting, Dicus said the deputy only had seconds to react, regardless of whether he was aware Gainer had autism.

“What we really need to look at is — even if we had the best of health care, the best psychologists, in that immediate interaction — that seven seconds,” Dicus said. “There are no magic words. We pay law enforcement officers to stop threats, to stop violence.”

“We need to understand in this circumstance — whether we knew, didn’t know, had the best resources available to us — this is a reactionary time.”

“We’ve been to this residence five times,” Dicus said.

The previous encounters between health-care and law-enforcement personnel and Gainer this year ended each time with Gainer being taken to a mental-health facility with no use of force, Dicus said.

“That’s my point of saying our social safety network is not working and needs to be strengthened,” Dicus said. “There is no reason for law enforcement be the ones that end up having to get involved in these crises, specifically when we’ve off-ramped these individuals to social services that are supposed to be designed to take care of their mental-health needs.”

Staff writer Mona Darwish contributed to this story.

Around 11:20 a.m., the victim was crossing a roadway outside of a protected crosswalk when he was struck by a Toyota sedan heading northbound along the 300 block of Tustin Street, north of Palm Avenue, according to Orange Police Lt. Phil McMullin. The pedestrian was pronounced dead at the scene.

His identity was not immediately released.

The sedan was spotted by an officer along Katella Avenue about 10 minutes after the hit-and-run and there was a brief pursuit, McMullin said. The driver eventually came to stop in the area near Tustin and Adams Avenue and was arrested.

The driver, Jonathan Lopez, 31, had four convictions of driving under the influence in the last 10 years and was driving without a license at the time of the crash on Tuesday, McMullin said.

Lopez, an Orange resident, showed signs of alcohol intoxication during his arrest, McMullin said, and was booked on suspicion of felony DUI, felony hit and run, evading, and vehicular homicide.

The stretch of Tustin Street between Palm and Walnut avenues was expected to remain closed for at least 5 hours while police continued their investigation Tuesday afternoon.

Anyone with information on the crash should contact Officer Ivans at 714-744-7451.

Around 9 p.m. on Tuesday, March 5, 41-year-old Jeremy Ruffin was found severely injured in the parking lot of a Goodwill, at 14405 Baseline Avenue, according to the Fontana Police Department. Ruffin was taken to a hospital where he later died.

The investigation found that Ruffin had been the victim of a robbery by two Fontana residents. The suspects were not armed during the robbery, said Fontana Police Sgt. Nathan Weiske.

While fleeing, the suspects struck Ruffin with their vehicle, police said.

Hiram Brinson, 45, and Rudy Caress, 38, were arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of the homicide.