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Ohio State Highway Patrol officials say they don't believe shooting on Interstate 77 was random

Posted at 6:42 AM, Aug 24, 2016
and last updated 2016-08-24 16:12:06-04

Ohio State Highway Patrol officials say they don't believe the shooting on Interstate 77 Wednesday morning was random, and the public should not be concerned. 

A Stark County woman in her 20's was shot in the hand and grazed on the back of her head while she was driving. 

Around 3:34 a.m. the Ohio State Highway Patrol post in Canton closed the road at the 13th Street exit to investigate.

According to officials, the woman got out of her vehicle after the shooting and went to a nearby home for help.

Listen to a portion of the 911 call below:

Liz Lemasters opened her door when the victim knocked. She said the woman was crying and bleeding, and she said she believed a friend's family member was shooting at her.

"She was really cold so I know she was going through shock, but something happened earlier," Lemasters told newsnet5.com. "She was worried about a friend of hers getting shot from the same people where she had left and ran in the van and then they followed the car down 77, shot at the vehicle."

The woman was taken to Mercy Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries where she was treated and released.

Lt. Leo Shirkey said they believe the woman was targeted and this was not a case of random road rage.

"If you're going down the road and you have a road rage incident, a lot of times it's one shot maybe fired at a vehicle," said Shirkey. "But to get up beside somebody and unload an entire weapon on that vehicle, there has to be more to it than a random case of road rage."

Police have no suspects at this time.

Authorities said "more than five or six bullets" were fired into the vehicle.

The closure caused significant traffic for the morning rush hour. I-77 southbound was reopened shortly after 9 a.m.