text: A 44-year-old woman has been shot dead in front of her 12-year-old son by a  stranger she simply laughed at while passing him in her car. Denise Chiffon Berry and her son were driving in Hawthorne, California on Wednesday afternoon when they passed by three men in a Cadillac - one of whom had his legs dangling out of the window. The mother and son allegedly laughed at the scene, but someone in the car didn't find it funny when he made eye contact with the 12-year-old boy. Scroll down for video . Denise Chiffon Berry, 44, and her son (pictured) were driving in Hawthorne, California on Wednesday when a stranger in a Cadillac started shooting at them. Ms Berry died at the scene while her unidentified son survived . Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Lt. Dave Coleman told Daily Mail Online on Friday that the mother and son were simply having a chuckle. 'Mommy says, "Look at that, isn’t that funny?" and they made eye contact. She drove on and they began following her,' he told the Daily Breeze. Lt. Coleman said on Friday that no other connection between Ms Berry and the occupants of the car had been found. After driving a few blocks, Ms Berry feared the men were following her so she pulled over near the 14200 block of Kornblum Ave to tell a police officer parked there monitoring traffic. The officer told Ms Berry to park in front of him and he would investigate the Cadillac. It was as Ms Berry was parking, that the Cadillac pulled up and the man in the front passenger seat jumped out and shot at her and her son with two handguns. The police officer at the scene quickly responded and shot down the gunman. Both the gunman and Ms Berry were pronounced dead at the scene. While her son suffered gunshot wounds, he was able to run away from the scene and spoke to police before undergoing surgery on Wednesday. The 12-year-old was in a stable but fair condition as of Thursday. Denise Chiffon Berry, 44 (pictured) was pronounced dead at the scene on Wednesday. The Metro bus driver leaves her 12-year-old son and an older child, according to neighbors . The 12-year-old boy managed to get away from the scene despite being injured in the shooting and give information to police before being hospitalized and undergoing surgery . Scene: When they noticed the Cadillac was following them, the mother and son asked a police officer for help. They were pulling in front of his SUV when the white car pulled up and a man got out and started shooting . 'It appears to be random or misguided,' Coleman said. 'We’ll have to figure that out. ... We know that, at some point, the little boy made eye contact with the suspect. We don’t know if that’s what set him off.' Authorities have since identified the shooter as 38-year-old Robert Washington of Rialto, California. The two other men in the 1994 Cadillac were taken into custody. Driver Stanley White, 24, faces charges of murder and conspiracy while 19-year-old backseat passenger Brandon White was arrested for conspiracy. The half brothers were being held on $1million bond. A neighbor who arrived on the scene said he knew Washington, who has a previous felony conviction among others, and found the attack out of character for the father-of-two. Ms Berry had worked as a Metro bus driver for the past more than four years and had an older son, neighbors said. 'She was a very nice lady,' a neighbor said. 'She surely didn’t deserve this.' Lt Coleman told Daily Mail Online that Ms Berry and the father of her 12-year-old son appeared to be estranged. She also leaves two adult sons.
target: Denise Chiffon Berry, 44, was driving in Hawthorne, California with her unidentified 12-year-old son on Wednesday .
  Around 12:30pm, her son saw a man riding in a Cadillac with his feet handing out the window and the two laughed at the scene .
  When the Cadillac began following their vehicle, Ms Berry pulled over to ask a police officer for help .
  That's when Raymond Washington, who was in the front passenger seat, got out of the Cadillac and started shooting at Ms Berry and her son .
  Ms Berry died at her scene while her son survived; Washington was shot dead by the police officer helping the mother and son .
  Washington, 38, was a father-of-two and had a previous felony conviction .