Monmouth County officials are investigating the shooting death of a driver on Route 18 early Sunday morning.

The prosecutor’s office says that 54-year-old Neptune resident Lloyd Earl Sanders was behind the wheel of his 2009 C350 Mercedes Benz on Route 18 in Colts Neck when he was shot.

“Unfortunately one or more [shots] struck Mr. Sanders, that caused the car to careen off the street and hit a guardrail,” says Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni. “When law enforcement arrived, unfortunately he had already passed."

Officials say that Sanders’s car was found riddled with bullets. A 52-year-old passenger in the car was also shot but is expected to recover.

Gramiccioni says that investigators are working a variety of angles, including the possibility that it was gang-motivated.

“Could be something that arose from an altercation or an incident that happened with Sanders and others at a location in Asbury Park on Saturday afternoon or alternatively at a club in Freehold that happened on Saturday evening,” the prosecutor says.

Anyone who may have any information about the shooting is urged to contact the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office or Colts Neck police.