Teen High School Graduate Fatally Struck In Shooting Between Two Cars On Highway

Jatzivy Sarabia, a high school graduate aspiring to be a radiology technician met with an untimely death in a shooting on the Washington state highway following an altercation between two cars.

The incident occurred Saturday at around 11:45 p.m. ET near Highway 397 in East Kennewick. 18-year-old Sarabia was a passenger in one of the two cars when she was fatally struck by a stray bullet, Benton County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.

"It was reported that two vehicles were involved in some sort of altercation resulting in shots being fired," the statement read. "One vehicle stopped in the middle of the road and the other vehicle was seen driving north on SR 397 towards the cable bridge."

Emergency responders arrived at the spot after receiving a call from someone involved in the incident and administered life-saving measures to the victim, Benton County Sheriff's Office Lieutenant Jason Erickson told People.

However, the teen did not make it and succumbed to her injuries.

Authorities have ruled out the possibility of the death being the result of a "road-rage incident."

"We have a witness that saw what happened," Erickson said. "A shooting occurred between the two vehicles and she was an unfortunate victim of that shooting."

At least one gunshot was fired during the mayhem, according to a dispatch report seen by Tri-City Herald. No arrests were reported in connection to the incident at the time of this writing.

The victim's mother, Kimberley Sarabia, told KEPR-TV that Jatzivy had recently graduated from Hanford High School and was preparing to start school in January to be a radiology technician. Kimberley said the teen—the third of her five children—would always take care of her siblings and was passionate about cooking and doing her make-up and hair.

"I don't know why they would do that to her," the heartbroken mother said. "Watch your babies and know who they're with and talk to them. I talked to her, but you just never know."