Family counts blessings after being shot at on highway; troopers investigating

A Minneapolis family returning home from their grandparent’s house on New Year’s Eve reported to Minnesota State troopers that another driver started shooting at their SUV on the highway.

"It’s kind of hard to understand that someone didn’t care about someone else’s life and decided to shoot at them," said LaTora Thompson, driver.

The back and side of the family’s small SUV had several bullet holes in it; one appeared to have clipped the back seat barely missing the 8-year-old and 12-year-old children in the backseat.

"It could have ended up worse than it actually did, which is really scary for me, but I just want to get awareness out there that this could happen to anybody,” Thompson said.

The family was driving east on Highway 610 onto Highway 252 after leaving a relative’s house on New Year’s Eve around 11 p.m. when another driver reportedly fired four shots at their SUV.

The Minnesota State Patrol’s incident report lists the family believes it was "a road rage incident."

Thompson said she was driving the kids home when a red Chrysler 300 car wouldn’t let her merge over, so eventually, she sped up, used her directional, and pulled around the other car.

That’s when the mother of three kids said she heard gunfire from the other vehicle.

"At first I thought it was just by tire and then I heard the three after it, I was like, ‘Oh, I know exactly what that is,’” Thompson said. “My instinct was to jerk my wheel …once they got their four shots off they took off."

Troopers told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS that the case remains an active investigation.

If you have any tips for detectives, you can reach the State Patrol at 763-591-4680.