76-year-old woman fatally shot while riding in a car in Antioch
ANTIOCH, Calif. - A 76-year-old woman died after she shot while riding in a car in Antioch, police said Wednesday.
Amina Haji was in a car driven by a 29-year-old man when shots were fired from another car near Canada Valley Road and Pinnacle View Way at about 7 p.m. Tuesday, authorities said.
The driver called 911, reporting that his passenger was having trouble breathing, said Officer Darryl Saffold, spokesman for the Antioch Police Department.
Paramedics and firefighters came to the scene and discovered that she had been shot at least once in the back, Saffold said.
Haji was taken to a hospital, where she died.
"Her being of the age that she was, obviously it is very, very tragic, but we don't view that as any less tragic than any other victim," Saffold said.
Police said the shooter fired from another car in the Canada Valley area.
The crime scene is near the Park Ridge housing development in a relatively quiet part of the city. Antioch police were back at the scene Wednesday, searching along a residential fence for evidence.
"This is highly unusual for the part of Antioch that we're in," said Mayor Lamar Thorpe.
The violence comes as Antioch is working with the U.S. Department of Justice to develop strategies to lower crime rates.
"This is why the city has been proactive in this public safety partnership that we're currently in with the federal government, to ensure that we're getting to the root cause of these types of gun-violence situations."
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