Authorities in Pennsylvania are searching for a suspect who fatally shot a 35-year-old mother in her car during an apparent targeted attack while her 11-year-old son was in the backseat.
Rachel King was going through the drive-thru line at a Dunkin’ Donuts location near Philadelphia. The attack occurred around 7:39 a.m. on Tuesday, according to the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office.
According to prosecutors, the gunman targeted King’s car’s driver’s side window and fired multiple shots. King’s son, who was riding in the backseat at the time, was uninjured.
Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said in a statement that the incident appeared to be a targeted murder, as the gunman neither attempted to open the victim’s car door nor communicated with her before shooting her several times through her driver’s side window.
King worked as a seventh and eighth grade English teacher at Grover Cleveland Elementary in Philadelphia. Her brother, Allen King, described her as someone who would “light up the room” and was “bright in every way possible.”
Mastery Charter Schools, in a statement, expressed devastation over the loss of an extraordinary teacher who had dedicated the last ten years to working with students and their families.
The suspected gunman has been described as a Black man with a thin build, driving a light-colored sedan, possibly a Ford or Mercury, according to prosecutors.