A woman was hospitalized after being shot in the leg while driving away from a Jack in the Box in Dinuba early Saturday morning. Her vehicle was struck by gunfire, and she tried to drive herself to a hospital but got a flat tire before help arrived. The Tulare County Sheriff's Office says deputies were called to the area of Road 118 and Avenue 416 near Orosi around 4:30 a.m.
According to ABC30, the woman told deputies she had just left the Jack in the Box in Dinuba when someone opened fire, striking both her vehicle and her leg. She tried to drive herself to the hospital after being hit, but got a flat tire along the way, the station reports. As reported by GV Wire, someone in a dark-colored vehicle opened fire on her car as she headed west on Avenue 416.
Dinuba's Jack in the Box sits at 2100 East El Monte Way, according to DoorDash.
Deputies Provided Field Aid Before Transport
Responding deputies gave the woman immediate field medical aid at Road 118 and Avenue 416, the sheriff's office said in an update. She was then taken to Kaweah Health Medical Center for treatment. The facility, located in Visalia, operates the only designated Level III trauma center in the San Joaquin Valley between Fresno and Bakersfield, and the hospital's own records show it handles more than 1,200 trauma patients and over 80,000 emergency room visits each year.
Authorities have not released any information about the gunman or gunmen involved, and no details on a motive have been made public. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Tulare County Sheriff's Office.
A Pattern of Drive-By Violence in Northern Tulare County
The shooting fits a troubling pattern for the rural stretch between Dinuba and Orosi. In January, TAGNET detectives — the sheriff's office's Tulare Area Gang and Narcotics Enforcement Team — arrested two documented Norteño gang members following a drive-by shooting in nearby Cutler, where victims were fired on as they drove away from a local market, the same GV Wire report notes. Search warrants in that case led to the seizure of multiple firearms and high-capacity magazines.
TAGNET detectives are investigating the shooting. The sheriff's office has substations in Orosi and Cutler.
Northern Tulare County has seen a string of gun violence this year. Hoodline's article attributes to Acast the report that Dinuba police arrested two teens in August in connection with a fatal drive-by shooting on Alta Avenue.
Severe Penalties Await If Suspects Are Caught
Under California Penal Code Section 26100, discharging a firearm from a vehicle at another person is a straight felony punishable by three, five, or seven years in state prison, according to legal analysis from Eisner Gorin LLP. Convictions under that statute count as violent strikes under California's Three Strikes Law.
No arrests have been announced in Saturday's shooting. The sheriff's office has not said whether the victim was targeted or shot at random along the rural roadway.
