Police fear woman could be paralyzed after she was shot while driving in W. Houston

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Police say a woman who was shot while driving on Houston's westside overnight may now be paralyzed.

The shooting happened on Grey Falls Drive at Overbrook Lane around 10:30 p.m., according to Houston police.

Now, investigators are looking into exactly what led up to the shooting and searching for the gunman.

A cousin of the 22-year-old victim confirmed her identity, but ABC13 is not releasing the name at this time. We're told the woman is in a great deal of pain and cannot feel her legs.

The woman told police that she was driving on Gray Falls Drive when a black man drove up next to her and randomly started shooting into her car.

She was struck in the back and ended up crashing on a sidewalk, HPD said.

Police say she underwent surgery and is expected to survive, but she is potentially facing a very serious injury.

Police said the woman was shot in the back and couldn't feel her legs. They're concerned that she may be paralyzed.

"It's the normality. It's something that's normal. I'm sad to say!" said a neighbor.

ABC13 spoke to a man who lives nearby. He does not want to be identified. He says he hears gunshots often in this neighborhood.

He says he crawled to his patio door to see what was happening.

"I heard the shots. I didn't see anything. I heard the confusion! It sounded like a wreck, but I didn't pay any attention. It might have been a car just speeding off," says the man.

The man says he watched as paramedics pulled the woman out of her wrecked car.

Investigators said they recovered some evidence at the scene.

"The one thing about that area out there is there is a lot of discharging firearms. So, there's a lot of old pistol casings laying all over the place," Lt. R. Willkens said. "But, officers on the scene believe they did find the actual pistol casings that were used in this shooting. So, hopefully they can find something through that as well."

The suspect fled after the shooting, according to police. Officers did not describe the suspect's vehicle.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the HPD Major Assaults & Family Violence Division at 713-308-8800 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222 TIPS.