Minnesota State Patrol investigating car shooting with 3 kids inside

BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. (FOX 9) - A night meant for celebrations took a turn as Latora Thompson was driving home to Minneapolis from Brooklyn Park with her three kids on New Year's Eve.

Around 11 p.m., she was trying to switch lanes near Highway 610 and Highway 252 when another driver refused to let her over.

"They wouldn't let me over, so I just stayed in my same lane. Later on, I tried to get over two more times, they wouldn't let me," said Thompson.

When she was finally able to switch lanes, the car pulled up to the passenger side of her SUV and fired four shots.

"At first, I thought maybe my tire had popped because it was loud... But once I heard it the second time, I was like 'Oh no, they are definitely shooting at me,'" said Thompson.

Her oldest son was sitting in the front seat and her other two children were sitting in the back row. One of the bullets narrowly missed her daughter's headrest.

"I never thought in my wildest dreams that this would be something that would happen to me. I've seen it on tv, in shows, movies, but never thought it would happen to me," said Thompson.

She was not able to catch the license plate of the other vehicle and didn't get a good look at the person who pulled the trigger, but she was able to give investigators with the Minnesota State Patrol a good description of the other car. The suspect vehicle is a red Chrysler 300.

Thompson and her kids are fine physically, but the incident traumatized them mentally. Thompson now wants the person responsible to pay for their actions.  

"If you feel free enough to shoot at me, whether you knew I had kids in my car... If you felt free to do that to me, you could do that to someone else," said Thompson.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help pay for repairs to Thompson's car.