SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — An essential worker's drive home from work ended in her being shot in the face with a BB gun during a road rage incident.
Photos show a smiling Iva May on the job as a server at an assisted living facility in La Mesa on Friday.
"Going to work is a little bit scary, but it's worth it, because somebody has to take care of these people and I enjoy doing it," said May.
May worked another full shift Saturday, before heading back to her City Heights home on westbound Sr-94. Near the Home Avenue exit, she says she accidentally cut someone off: a man in a gold sedan wearing a dark medical-type mask.
"I looked over and he's trying to cut me off. He's flipping me off and getting upset, so I put up a peace sign to say, 'Sorry, my bad,'" said May.
May got off at Home Avenue and prepared to turn right at the stoplight. The light was red. The other driver pulled alongside her, stopped in the left lane.
"I had my window rolled down, and he rolled down his window to yell at me," said May.
May says he pulled down his mask, and pulled out what looked like a handgun.
"I said, 'What are you going doing to do, shoot me over this? Are you serious?' Then I heard a pop. My face felt really hot for a seconds. I heard a BB bounce off my face and onto the windshield," said May.
A stunned May felt a pain in her left cheek and watched as the driver ran the red light, turned left and sped off. She flagged down a patrol car, but the officers couldn't track down the car. For May, the terror of what just happened sank in.
"If it had been an inch higher, even though it's a BB gun, it would have taken my eye out. It's terrifying to think what could have happened," said May.
May is telling her story to warn others of the road rage driver cruising the now-emptier roads.
"It's ridiculous, especially with everything going on that someone decides to do a violent act. We're supposed to be taking care of each other during this pandemic," said May.
The suspect is described as a thin Hispanic male in his early to mid 20s, driving a sun-bleached, older model gold sedan with a loud muffler. Anyone with information is asked the call Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.
