Did the look of the car draw gunfire? Vegas police not sure

LAS VEGAS (AP) - Authorities have identified a woman who was killed by gunfire in a shooting during the weekend on Interstate 15 in Las Vegas, where a family member tells a television station she believes the fatal shots were fired because the car looked like a police vehicle.

But other vehicles were struck, including a tractor-trailer and a Kia SUV, and the Saturday morning shootings could have been random, Las Vegas police Lt. Dan McGrath said Monday.

The white 2009 Ford Crown Victoria in which Tracey Donahue of North Las Vegas was fatally wounded was fired upon not far from the Las Vegas Strip, police Officer Larry Hadfield said.

Donahue, 48, died of a neck wound, The Clark County coroner reported Monday. Her husband, Thomas Donahue, was wounded in the arm and torso, police said. People the other vehicles weren't injured, Hadfield said.

Thomas Donahue, who was driving the Ford, told investigators he didn't know what prompted the shooting, that he'd never met the man who was later arrested, and there was no road-rage confrontation, McGrath said.

"He could have been randomly targeted," the homicide lieutenant said. "He told us maybe it was because his car looked like a police car."

Kenneth McDonald, 29, the suspected shooter, was arrested a short time later at a Las Vegas Boulevard pharmacy where he was accused of wielding two handguns and trying to sexually assault a woman. A police K-9 dog was used to disarm McDonald before officers took him into custody.

McGrath said McDonald didn't make a statement to police before he was jailed pending a Tuesday court appearance at which he was expected to have a lawyer appointed to his case.

Amber Garcia, who identified herself as the daughter of McDonald, told KTNV-TV (http://bit.ly/2ebilco ) that she believes the appearance of her father's car drew gunfire. The account is also posted on a GoFundMe site seeking donations to a memorial account.

Telephone and email contacts for Garcia weren't immediately found, and a call to a number that may be associated with Thomas Donahue went unanswered.

Donahue was treated at the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada and released later Saturday, a hospital spokeswoman said.