A University of San Diego student was shot in her rib cage while driving to school on state Route 163 today, police said.
According USD's Assistant Vice President of Public Affairs, Pamela Gray Payton, the student was a senior majoring in political science.
The 21-year-old woman called police at 7:37 a.m. to report the attack. The bullet that struck her apparently came through the car door.
The woman told authorities she was driving south in the fast lane near Balboa Avenue when she felt a pain in her right side, according to San Diego police spokesman Detective Gary Hassen.
According to Payton, the student who was driving toward USD stopped just shy of the campus and called her mother for help. The mother then called 911.
San Diego police found a bullet hole in the passenger-side door of her Toyota Matrix, Jackman said.
The CHP temporarily closed all southbound lanes to accommodate their investigation. Officers walked in a line down the road to search for evidence, and found five bullet shells on the shoulder between Clairemont Mesa Boulevard and Balboa Avenue, police said.
A description of the suspect vehicle was unavailable, and it was unclear if the woman ever saw the shooter or the vehicle.
The woman was taken to Sharp Memorial Hospital, where she underwent surgery, Jackman said.
Jackman said he expected 163 to be fully reopened this afternoon.
