The victim of a road rage shooting last week in Galloway Township says her only mistake was trying to merge onto a lane as hers was ending.
Maritza Arias-Galva, 42, was shot in the face at the red light on Jimmie Leeds Road at the entrance to Stockton University's Galloway Township campus on Sept. 11.
"Everything happened in a blur," she wrote in a GoFundMe set up by a friend. "I remember the deafening sound of the gunshot as the bullet shattered my window. Glass flew everywhere, and blood poured down my face. I managed to call 911, but my vision was obscured by the blood. I feared he would return to finish what he started."
The incident put the school and nearby AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center on lockdown.
Arias-Galva said she was determined to stay conscious to identify her attacker.
Investigators have marveled at how she was able to give them a description of the suspect and his vehicle as she suffered the devastating injury.
Ernest Heinz, 46, of Port Republic, was arrested hours later inside the Blue Heron Pines development in Galloway. He remains jailed pending a detention hearing postponed to next week.
Meanwhile, Arias-Galva continues to try to heal from the attack both mentally and physically, writes her friend Yossie Rivera, who started the online fundraiser for her.
"Maritza is a loving single mother who works tirelessly at two jobs to provide for her young children," Rivera wrote. "She is the kind of person who always puts others first, and now she needs our help more than ever. The extent of her injuries is still being evaluated, and we don't yet know if she will lose vision in her eye or how long she will be out of work."
The bullet entered Arias-Galva's upper nose and left side, and exited on the right side, according to the affidavit of probable cause.
"My face is severely injured, and I've undergone surgery on my right eye," Arias-Galva wrote. "I'm waiting to see if my vision will return. Despite everything, I'm thankful to be alive. I believe God was watching over me and spared my life."
She said her first thought was to her children, "especially my youngest, who needed someone to meet her at the school bus stop."
Arias-Galva told police she was driving north on South Pomona Road heading toward the White Horse Pike on the outside lane of travel, when she put on her turn signal to merge into the inside lane, where there was a white SUV that sped up and then cut her off.
"This man attempted to ram my car twice, blocking my path, and then pursued me onto (Jimmie) Leeds Road," she wrote. "When I stopped at a red light near Stockton University, he began shouting vile insults at me, demanding to know why I was speeding. I calmly responded that I wasn't, but he continued his hateful tirade, threatening to kill me. As I quickly rolled up my window, I saw him point a gun at me."
The rest "happened in a blur," she said.
"I was the victim of a man consumed by rage and what seems to be racism, who devalued my life simply because I am a Hispanic woman," she wrote.
"This horrific event has deeply impacted me and my family," she added. "It's a stark reminder that such violence can happen to anyone, even when you're not seeking conflict. Please, everyone, stay safe. There is too much brokenness in the world."
