Driver on life support after being shot on 101 Freeway in Tarzana; suspect still at large

A 26-year-old woman is on life support after she was shot in the head while driving on the 101 Freeway in the San Fernando Valley last weekend, authorities said.

The woman, identified by family as Ronni Newt, was driving along the northbound 101 Freeway in Tarzana when several shots were fired at her vehicle between 4:45 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 17, according to the California Highway Patrol. One bullet struck her in the head, officials said.

Newt was transported to a hospital in critical condition, and has been in a coma ever since, authorities said.

No suspects have been identified in connection with the shooting, officials said. CHP is asking for the public’s help in tracking down any suspects and for any dashcam footage that may have been taken on the 101 Freeway from the 405 to Tampa Avenue the afternoon of Dec. 17.

“We’re devastated,” the victim’s father, Robert Newt, told KTLA. “Our family is devastated. Whatever the outcome is, we’ll never be the same. It’s been turned upside down.”

CHP received reports of a traffic collision on the northbound 101 Freeway near White Oak at 5:16 p.m. last Saturday. Responding officers found Newt’s vehicle on the right shoulder and found her slumped in her seat with multiple gunshot wounds.

Family members said Newt was on her way to meet friends and was expected to be home later that day to help decorate their Christmas tree.

“There’s no way on the 101 at 5 o’clock on a Saturday, that no one saw anything,” her mother, Francine Webster, told KTLA.

Officials are asking anyone with information to call CHP Det. J. Leblanc at the Southern Division’s Major Crimes Unit at (323) 644-9550.