A heroic Texas teenager was shot in the heart during a road rage nightmare, but still managed to safely swerve her car off the road to save her passengers before she died.
Louise Jean Wilson, 17, was driving to see the sunrise in Galveston with her boyfriend and another friend when the heated confrontation began on Dec. 10, according to Houston police.
Police said Wilson unintentionally swerved in front of the suspect’s four-door sedan to avoid a crash when the gunman opened fire in response around 1 a.m. on Interstate 45 in Houston.
“The vehicle they had cut accelerated and passed her on the driver’s side,” the detective said. Caleb Bowling said during the press conference.
Despite being fatally wounded, Wilson safely pulled her car off the road to save her friends from gunfire and prevent other drivers from crashing into her vehicle on the busy interstate.
Wilson died at the scene.
Louise Wilson was 17 years old. Marshall and Marshall Funeral Directors Louise Jean Wilson, 17, were traveling with friends for a short getaway when she was shot and killed by the callous assailant. Facebook/Louise Wilson
“Louise’s last act was to stop safely, likely saving the lives of two men,” Detective Caleb Bowling said during the news conference. “It was a heroic act to get that car to pull over and stop with the injuries she suffered.”
A 17-year-old passenger was taken to the hospital with a gunshot wound and was treated and released. A third man was not injured.
The suspect, described as a black man in his 20s, has not yet been located by police.
Wilson had graduated high school in May and was just “a few classes” away from earning his associate degree, according to his obituary.
The alleged shooter fled the scene after shooting at Wilson’s car. Youtube/ABC 7
She was murdered on her grandmother’s birthday, her father, Daniel Wilson, revealed during the press conference.
“Our daughter was just trying to go to the beach to see the sunrise with her boyfriend on her day off before she had to go back to work,” her father said.
“She ended up dying like a heroine. She was shot in the heart and was still able to stop the car safely and save the people in her car and others driving. She wanted to help people and she helped them.”
His father had a stern message to convey to the suspect who was still at large.
Wilson had recently graduated from high school and was murdered on her grandmother’s birthday. Facebook/Houston Police Department
“Just think about…what you took from this world and what she could have done,” Daniel Wilson added. “Put that on your conscience, whoever did this. I only know that you gave an angel, but you took our girl.”
Wilson’s uncle, Leo Amoling, described his niece as a loving person with a “wonderful soul.”
“Louise was a great girl, a wonderful soul, a great daughter, granddaughter and sister, and for an idiot to senselessly take her life. This should not have happened,” Amoling told KTRK on Monday.
Texas ranks as one of the most dangerous states for incidents of road violence involving firearms.
In 2021, an average of 44 people per month were killed or injured in highway shootings, double the pre-pandemic average, according to statistics shared by the Texas Supreme Court.
A 17-year-old passenger was taken to the hospital with a gunshot wound and was treated and released. A third man was not injured. Youtube/ABC 7
In 2021, there were 610 road rage incidents involving a firearm, and 34% of those incidents resulted in injury or death.
“This is not the country we fought to protect and it breaks my heart because it is not just happening to us. There is a real crime problem in this country. We just want justice,” Amoling said.
Authorities are seeking additional witnesses who may have seen the shooting to come forward with more information.
“We’ve been here before and it’s sad. “We’re in a big city with some homicides and we have a lot of work to do,” Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said during the news conference. “Every family is important to us. “Every block of this city is important to us.”
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Source: vtt.edu.vn