Driver Shot to Death at Light : Violence: Assailant steps from car in Buena Park traffic, takes aim and fires several shots at victim.

BUENA PARK — A driver waiting for the green light at a major intersection was slain Thursday when a man in the car ahead of him got out, walked back to the victim’s window and fired several shots at point-blank range, as dozens of witnesses looked on.

Steven Leroy Henry, 35, of Rancho Santa Margarita, who had been married only four months, was hit several times in the unexplained attack at 10:28 a.m. at Knott and Orangethorpe avenues. The gunman, who sped away, remains at large.

Police said Henry was northbound in his white pickup truck when the killing occurred and the shooter fled in a 1980s’, light-color sedan. Henry’s truck then went through the intersection, jumped a curb 50 yards away and crashed into a planter.

He was treated by paramedics at the scene and then taken by Lifeflight helicopter to UCI Medical Center, where he died at 11:15 a.m., police said.

A local salesman, who asked not to be named, said he was two cars behind Henry at the stoplight. He said the gunman got into a shooter’s stance, holding the gun in his right hand while bracing it with his left, to fire.

“He was 6 foot 3 with long brown hair,” the man said. “I have no idea why, but he got out, pulled a handgun and fired it three to five times. It was big, like a .45. I just got out of there.”

Lt. Richard Ciampa said that witnesses told varying accounts and that some of their stories conflicted with the Police Department’s account.

“When you have 10 people see an event, you’ll get 10 different stories,” he said. “What we do as investigators is sift through all of the stories, find the common threads and come up with the most likely scenario.”

Tom Ballard, for example, said he was in his business’ workshop about 50 yards from the shooting when he saw the passenger--not the driver--of a gray car get out and shoot Henry. He said the driver of the gray car fled on foot, and that the killer then got into the car and drove away.

“The driver, I don’t think he wanted anything to do with what was going on because he got out and ran away (west) on Orangethorpe,” Ballard said.

Ciampa, however, said police believe that the gunman was alone in the car from the beginning.

Police described him as Latino and in his mid-30s, wearing a plaid shirt. They have no suspect or idea of motive.

Henry reportedly owned a company that hired workers to unload trucks.

Near Henry’s home Thursday afternoon, stunned and weeping family members and friends who gathered on the street said they could not fathom why anyone wwuld want to kill him.

Tony King, Henry’s next-door neighbor for two years and the best man at his wedding, said Henry “was a friendly guy, the kind of guy you’d want for a neighbor. I have no idea who could’ve done this. Steve never talked bad about anyone.”

King said Henry and his wife recently bought their first home in Coto de Caza. They were waiting for escrow to close.

Henry and King last spoke on Wednesday night, making small talk in front of their homes in the well-kept Rancho Santa Margarita neighborhood.

“We laughed and joked like we always do,” King said. “I can’t believe this is happening.”