SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - A Mission Beach woman is recounting how a beach getaway in Mexico ended in her being shot in a carjacking attempt while driving home.
For the past 6 months, Cassandra Light and her 2-year-old golden retriever Ellie had taken monthly weekend getaways to Rosarito to recharge. During the last trip, the drive home ended with gunshots.
Light, a Mission Beach resident who works as a life coach, was driving her Mercedes SUV back from Rosarito on a Monday afternoon in mid-June with Ellie in the back seat.
She was on a busy road in the eastern part of Tijuana when she approached a highway on-ramp.
"Black car, pulling out so fast in front of me … slides sideways and blocks me from taking the ramp onto the highway," Light said.
Moments later, a masked man approached her vehicle.
"Came from the left, someone banging on my window so loudly … Masked up, hat on. All I could see was his eyes," Light said.
Light says she sat there, frozen. The man raised a gun and fired.
"Raised gun up and fired. I leaned back instinctually. It blew through the driver window and out the passenger door," Light said.
Light believes she heard the man yelling at her to get out of the car. That's when he fired again.
"My ears just ringing so, so loudly … Somehow I got out of seatbelt. That's when he grabbed me and threw me into the street," Light said.
On the ground, Light looked up to see Ellie poking her head out from the back seat.
"That was most terrifying moment I think I've ever experienced. Just screaming, ‘Don’t take my dog! … I try to run to the car, then collapse on the ground. That's when I realized I had been shot," Light said. "When I look down, I see bones and blood.”
Losing a lot of blood, Light says she may have started to black out — but remembers Ellie appearing at her side, followed by two good Samaritans. Light is not sure how Ellie got out of the car, which had not been taken. It's possible police sirens scared off the shooter, along with the vehicle. Police have not made any arrests.
Light suffered a shattered tibia and fibula and underwent a total of 4 surgeries — the first in Tijuana before she was transferred to a San Diego hospital.
Facing a long recovery, Light says her best friend is getting her through it.
"She's getting me through the whole thing!" Light said. "I hope I have a positive perspective … It’s just hard right now.”
A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to help Light with medical and other expenses, including costs to certify Ellie as a therapy dog to visit hospitals.
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