A 45-year-old Las Vegas mother of three is grappling with a new reality after being shot in the face following a wrong turn she made last October 5. According to an interview with News3LV, the incident occurred around seven in the evening near Bonanza and Lamb when the victim, identified as Martha Carbajal, mistakenly drove down a dead end.
"I heard what sounded like fireworks and it was so many that I turned to the left and right, trying to figure out where the fireworks were," she explained that she kept driving down the dead end and began to feel excruciating pain. "I felt my face get swollen and I could hear the buzzing, like a ringing in my right ear and I looked down because I started feeling like drops and it was the blood already gushing out of my eye," she added in a statement obtained by News3LV. Her daughter has since created a GoFundMe page to assist with the financial demands imposed by the recovery process.
Carbajal told 8 News Now that the bullet struck her as she passed by an apartment complex, after mistaking the sound of gunfire for fireworks. "It hit my cheekbone and came right out my right eye. At that point, I saw pitch black on my right side and my face felt really swollen and I just looked down and I could see a lot of blood," she explained.
"We watch the news all the time and we hear about all these accidents happening and you just never think it’s going to happen to you or a loved one," Carbajal told 8 News Now. Metro Police are actively investigating the case and found 15 bullet casings in her car, including one that landed in the cup holder by the driver’s seat. Anyone with information on the incident is urged to contact Crime Stoppers at (702) 385-5555 to remain anonymous.
