MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — A 15-year-old girl was shot in the chest Tuesday night in a terrifying highway shooting that shut down eastbound lanes of the Palmetto Expressway and sent traffic backing up for miles, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
According to troopers, the shooting happened around 9:05 p.m. in the eastbound lanes of the Palmetto Expressway, in the eastbound lanes of Northwest 47th Avenue in Miami Gardens.
Investigators say someone inside an older model black Chevrolet Malibu — possibly with a broken blue fog light — opened fire on a white Hyundai sedan.
They said a bullet pierced the windshield and struck the teenager sitting in the front passenger seat.
The victim, identified by her family as Tyjahnae Reid, was rushed to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center with non-life-threatening injuries, according to FHP officials.
Her mother, Cassandra Morgan, said Tyjahnae initially described feeling a “burning sensation” in her chest before realizing she had been shot.
3 p.m. report:
The incident began, Morgan said, after she honked at the driver of the black Malibu, who she claimed was driving erratically. That’s when the situation turned violent.
“He went an inch up, rolled the window down on the passenger side, and the passenger let out gunshots,” Morgan said.
Morgan’s two younger children, ages 6 and 9, were also in the back seat of the car during the shooting. None of them were physically injured, but she says the emotional toll has been severe.
FHP troopers are still searching for the shooter and are asking for the public’s help. They identified the suspected vehicle as a older model black Chevy Malibu with a broken blue fog light.
“That could be a relative of yours — could be your child. Assist us," an FHP spokesperson said.
Morgan told Local 10’s Janine Stanwood on Wednesday that Tyjahnae has some shoulder pain and is “a little shooken up” after the shooting.
They said the eastbound lanes of the Palmetto Expressway were shut down for about two hours after the shooting.
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call the FHP at *347.
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