A woman was shot in her hand while driving along state Highway 114 in Irving Friday night in an apparent random highway shooting, police announced on Monday.
"I was just driving normally in the left lane and next thing I know I heard a loud pop,” said Crystal Battee, of Dallas.
Battee, 27, said she was heading West near Rochelle Road at about 10 p.m. when a bullet pierced her front windshield.
"I felt the glass in my eye,” she said. “Then I realized I had a hole. I looked and I had a big hole in my hand."
The shot appeared to have come from the other side of the highway, based on the angle.
Part of the bullet went into the palm of Battee's left hand, which had been on the steering wheel. Another fragment landed in the empty passenger’s seat. Police cut a hole in the cloth to remove it.
"I was just in shock,” Battee said. “I didn't know what was going on."
An Irving police spokesman said investigators are stumped.
“We don't know if it came from another vehicle or if it came from somebody standing on the side of the road or nearby,” said police officer James McLellan. “It's just perplexing to us at the moment because there are so few answers."
McLellan said detectives are checking with Dallas police to see if the shooting might be related to two recent highway shootings in South Dallas.
Those shootings happened along Interstate 20 just four days apart. One of the cases appeared to have been road rage because a driver had his high-beam lights on.
"At this point we can't say they're connected,” McLellan said. “But we have reached out to them for information that we can share with their investigators and see if there are any similarities in the cases."
After she was shot Battee exited on O’Connor Road and stopped at a convenience store, where police and paramedics met her.
She was released after spending the night at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas.
Her bandaged hand could take a long time to heal, she said.
"They didn't stitch it up or anything because there's nothing to stitch,” Battee said. “It's a big hole.”
Battee said she feels lucky she wasn’t killed.
"I hope they catch these people because, you know, luckily my life wasn't taken,” Battee said. “But I don't want the next person's life to be taken because of some foolishness over a gun."
