Sheriff: Woman fatally shot on highway by fellow passenger

OPELIKA, Ala. - A woman was shot and killed inside a moving car on an Alabama highway early Monday morning in a series of events that saw a man jump from the same vehicle before it was struck by a tractor-trailer, a county sheriff said.

Authorities responded to an accident involving a car and an 18-wheeler on the Interstate 85 just north of Opelika. But when they arrived they discovered that a female passenger in the car had been fatally shot, Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones said.

The man who the surviving passengers identified as the gunman and who fled the scene was later taken into custody for questioning, Jones said. The man was not charged with any crime as of Monday evening.

Jones said two other passengers inside the car told deputies that a man in the backseat shot the woman in the back of the head. A struggle ensued in the backseat and the man jumped from the moving car as it slowed, Jones said.

The driver of the car turned the vehicle around and chased the man, Jones said, but the vehicle hit a guardrail and was struck by an 18-wheeler.

Authorities identified the shooting victim as a Georgia woman, but her name is being withheld until her family is notified, Jones said. Lee County Coroner Bill Harris said she was pronounced dead at the scene at 2:20 a.m.

The fleeing suspect jumped on a passing 18-wheeler before running into the woods, Jones said. He was later detained in the nearby town of Valley, Jones said.

Jones said there were four people in the car, all from the Atlanta area. They were reportedly traveling to Florida for work, he said.

Jones said the focus of the investigation is determining why the firearm was discharged in the car.

The accident and crime scene investigation caused traffic to be delayed for several hours on the interstate.

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