Girl, 10, Fighting for Her Life After She Was Shot in Van’s Backseat During Road Rage Incident on Her Way to School

A 10-year-old girl is in critical condition after being shot during an alleged road rage confrontation on her way to school in San Antonio, Texas.

Police said the child, Alisa Gates, suffered life-threatening injuries when a bullet tore through the side of her family’s vehicle on Friday, Jan. 30, according to the San Antonio Police Department.

Investigators allege the suspect, Bryan Arceo, backed out of a driveway aggressively and reacted after another driver honked. Police say he then fired toward the family’s vehicle, striking Alisa as she sat in the backseat, before driving away. Two adults who were also inside the car were not injured.

Speaking to KSAT, Alisa’s father, Jason Gates, said he and his wife first noticed the smell of gunpowder, then looked back and saw evidence the bullet had pierced the rear door of their van.

“My wife looks at my daughter and says, ‘Hey, did you get shot?’ ” he told the station. “My daughter says, ‘No.’ Then, I opened the door a little bit.”

That’s when he realized Alisa had been hit.

“I kept telling my wife, ‘Babe, you need to pull over.’ So, she pulled in right here, and this is where we stopped,” he said, adding that they initially tried to drive to the hospital before pulling into a parking lot to call for help. “My wife was on her horn, but she was on her horn no more than three seconds.”

As the parents rushed to get help, Jason told KSAT they briefly spotted the same vehicle they believe had fired at them moments earlier. He said they recorded the license plate and noted a description of the driver.

Police said a multi-unit response was launched to find the suspect. Arceo was later arrested and booked into the Bexar County Adult Detention Center. Authorities said he faces three counts of aggravated assault and one count of endangering a child.

According to an affidavit obtained by KSAT, Arceo was allegedly in the vehicle with his ex-wife, who was later dropped off at her workplace, and a child who was dropped off at a nearby school shortly after the shooting.

The affidavit states that Arceo’s ex-wife “looked away and heard a pop,” and then saw him point a gun toward the family’s van before firing.

Jason Gates told KSAT that Alisa underwent surgery and has been “doing great” in her recovery. But he said the family is still grappling with what happened — including the damage to the vehicle and the memories tied to it.

“I told my wife, I said, ‘What are we going to do with a bullet hole in the side of the car?’ ” he said. “She goes, ‘I don’t want the car anymore.’ ”