Father and two kids shot at during road rage incident

TUCSON, AZ (Tucson News Now) - Martin Soto was driving with his two children on Tuesday, Jan. 8, when someone pulled out a gun and shot at their car.

Soto said two men in a small, blue car got upset with him and started yelling. Things escalated when they both stopped at the light on 22nd, near I-10.

“As soon as I started to go, I heard a pop and I knew what it was,” Soto said.

Soto said he called 911 but didn’t realize just how bad it was until they came home.

Soto’s daughter, 11-year-old Natalisia, was in the passenger seat and 9-year-old Alejandro was sitting in the back.

The bullet hit the bottom, left side of the truck, went through the door and through the seat Alejandro was sitting on.

“I saw the bullet hole in the door. The first thing I thought was he was sitting there. He could have easily gotten hit.”

Alejandro said he was playing a game on his phone and had no idea what had happened.

“I heard a big pop and I was wondering what it was,” he said. “I was like we probably just ran over a rock or something.”

Meanwhile, Natalisa watched it all happened.

“I just saw the driver point the gun with one hand,” she said. “Like the moments when you see stuff go in slow motion. I kind of saw that.”

All three are shaken up but thankful the bullet hit where it did.

" I just started crying because I just looked at them and I’m like man this would have been a whole different story if they moved their hand up or the truck was different or something. I would have been at the hospital with my son or they would have been telling me he was dead," said Patricia Palomera, the children’s mother.

Soto filed a report with Tucson police. He said the car was blue, possible a Volkswagen Jetta. He also said the men were Hispanic, in their late teens or early 20s. The driver had a trimmed beard.

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