Fatal Bay Bridge shooting victim identified as mother on way to job interview

A young mother was on the way to a job interview when bullets started flying on the I-80 in Oakland.
A young mother was on the way to a job interview when bullets started flying on the I-80 in Oakland. Photo credit Jim Taylor/KCBS Radio

It has been revealed that the victim in a fatal freeway shooting that blocked traffic onto the Bay Bridge Thursday was a mother on her way to a job interview.

Amani Morris, 29, was riding in the passenger seat of an SUV with her fiancé and two children when bullets started flying on the I-80 near West Grand Ave., Morris’ mother Alicia Butler told KTVU.

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In an emotional interview, Butler said she has no reason to believe her daughter would be a target, adding that Morris was on the way to a final job interview at a child care center at the time of her death.

"She was telling me the day before, 'Mommy, she told me it was all but mine," she recalled to the station. "I just had to talk to her boss. So tomorrow is going to clinch it.'"

Morris' sons, ages 3 and 5, were in the backseat of the maroon SUV when gunfire broke out. "They were her world," Butler said. "There was nothing she wouldn't do for those boys."

In a message to the culprit shared with the station, Butler begged that they turn themselves in. "I pray to God that you just find it in your heart to turn yourself in because this could’ve been your mom, your sister, your daughter," she said. "You took something from me that I could never replace. You took my baby. Just turn yourself in please."

A funeral for another victim of a deadly freeway shooting in Oakland is being held Friday. In early November, 23-month-old Jasper Wu was riding in a car with his mother on the I-880 when he was shot and killed by a stray bullet.

Featured Image Photo Credit: Jim Taylor/KCBS Radio