Three people have been shot in San Mateo County, just miles apart, in two separate incidents Saturday night, according to fire officials.

The first shooting occurred as the victims, a woman and her 2-year-old son, were sitting in the backseat of a car as it was driving along Bayfront Expressway and Willow Road in the Menlo Park neighborhood of Bellhaven just before 8 p.m.

A car with two Latino men pulled up to the victims and an argument ensued.  One of the men pulled out a handgun and began firing into the other car.

A bullet pierced the window and grazed the toddler, who was sitting on his mother's lap. Another bullet also struck the mother and the boy in the legs. The driver's side had two bullet holes in the door.       

The victims then drove themselves to the parking lot of a McDonalds on University Avenue in East Palo Alto around 7:45 p.m. where they called for help, Fire Chief Harold Schapelhouman said Saturday evening. Four men, including the father of the toddler, were also in the car and they were not injured.

The 24-year-old mother and boy were taken to Stanford Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries.

Police said they don't where the people in either car were from and they are looking for a dark green 2000 Honda.

A second, fatal shooting was reported in East Palo Alto on Capitol Avenue around 9 p.m., a short distance from the Menlo Park shooting, but Bertini said it appears to have been unrelated.

Police are investigating whether these shootings are gang related.