Highway horror: Woman wounded in San Francisco freeway shooting speaks
SAN FRANCISCO -- The victim of a recent freeway shooting is sharing her story exclusively with KPIX in hopes it will generate leads to catch the gunman.
The shooting happened around 1 p.m. Friday, July 14 on southbound Interstate 280 near Alemany Boulevard in San Francisco. The victim said a simple lane change almost ended her life.
She said a bullet struck her right thigh and it remains in her leg because it's stuck in a muscle.
"The trauma doctor came in and told me how lucky I was, that the trajectory the bullet was on would have hit my major blood vessel and I could have very easily bled out," she said.
She asked that her name be withheld because the gunman is still on the loose.
"This experience has just changed everything. Like when I look at my son and I hug him, I'm just so thankful. And I get to hug my partner."
She said she was driving south on Highway 101 and changed lanes to get to southbound I-280.
She believes that move angered the driver behind her. She said there was no verbal or nonverbal interaction with that man.
"He was driving so recklessly and he was just tailgating me, tailgating me. I couldn't do anything to maneuver to get away from him. I was in the number one lane -- like there shouldn't be anything coming up from the side on the left. And before I know it, he's in the shoulder, pulling parallel with me like side-by-side. So he worked to match my speed and then I look over to my left and he's got his passenger window rolled down and then it's just pop-pop-pop!"
She said five shots hit her white SUV. She pulled over to the shoulder near the Monterey Boulevard exit.
"I was shaking and screaming, like that was the shock -- reaction to what had happened and seeing the blood. Some of the bullets went into the back door panel, which is where my son's booster seat is. I'm just so thankful he wasn't with me at the time and it was just me."
She says the gunman was driving a dark-color SUV with tinted windows. It has a black license plate with yellow letters, likely a legacy plate.
According to an analysis by the San Francisco Standard and numbers provided by the CHP, officers responded to 435 shootings on Bay Area freeways from January 2020 to April 2023.
The report shows San Francisco freeways had 31 shootings and 2 deaths.
Alameda County was the worst and saw 204 shootings in that span. Eleven people died, including two children.
Caltrans officials said there are no cameras on I-280.
Caltrans told KPIX they've installed about 130 freeway cameras in the East Bay. Many of them on I-880, I-580 and I-80.
The survivor said she wanted to make sure the man who shot her can't hurt another family.
"I would express love. That's all I can do. I would just express love. I don't have a place for hate," she said.
The CHP says no one has been arrested in the case. They are looking for dashcam videos and asking witnesses to come forward.
The CHP said the I-280 shooting was one of two highway shootings that day. An unrelated gun battle between two cars on I-580 in Oakland gravely injured an 8-year-old boy riding in another car. No arrests have been made in that case and the boy is still recovering from his injuries.