ORLANDO, Fla. _ A woman was driving along Interstate 4 near Orange City late Wednesday when she said her minivan's windows suddenly "imploded."
"It was dark and the next I knew there was glass shattering all over my face," she later told 911 dispatchers.
While the woman was still on the phone, dispatchers began discussing a similar call that had just been phoned in from down the road. Authorities have since determined at least 15 vehicles were damaged after being shot at, likely by a BB or pellet gun, on highways in the Volusia County area on New Year's Day.
The woman gasped after hearing about the other call _ among at least a half-dozen fielded by dispatchers from alarmed drivers. Deputies have not publicly identified any possible suspects.
"Oh my God, so it wasn't just me," she said.
The Volusia County Sheriff's Office said the 15 vehicles were damaged between mile marker 108 on I-4 and the exit at State Road 40 on Interstate 95, a roughly 30-mile stretch. Eight vehicles were struck along I-4 and seven were damaged on I-95.
No one was injured, and the damage to cars, including shattered glass and dinged metal, appeared to have been caused by BBs or pellets, the sheriff's office said.
Another man who had pulled off I-4 to a nearby Walgreens called 911 just after 6:30 p.m. to say that "he heard what sounded like a loud bang and then heard the sound of glass shattering in the back seat of his vehicle," Florida Highway Patrol trooper Devon Barrett wrote in an incident report.
The man told dispatchers glass shattered onto his son, who was sitting in the back seat, but he wasn't hurt. As he was reporting the incident, another dispatcher could be heard chiming in on the 911 call.
"Hold on there's another call that looks almost exactly the same," the dispatcher said. "Did you already call about this?"
Another caller in Volusia County told dispatchers he was driving on I-4 with his daughter in a blue Toyota Camry when, just before the exit to Debary Avenue, he "heard the impact."
When he pulled off the highway to inspect his car, he saw his windows shattered and three small holes in them. He told dispatchers his daughter saw a brown pickup truck next to them before his car was struck, but couldn't see how many people were inside because of its tinted windows.
When the dispatcher asked if the shooting was prompted by a road rage incident, the man said no.
"I was driving ... and talking to my daughter when it happened," he said.
Another person described the suspect's vehicle as a gold SUV.
One woman driving on I-95 said she was just north of the Tanger Outlet Mall when she heard what she thought was an "explosion," and looked back to see her rear passenger's side window blown out, according to an incident report.
Multiple people called Volusia deputies early Thursday, saying they initially thought the damage to their vehicles Wednesday night had been caused by debris. After seeing news reports, they believed they were also shot at.
