SCOTTSBORO, Ala. (WHNT) — A mother and daughter said they feel lucky to be alive after they witnessed the police chase and shootout with law enforcement that led to a nearly 20-hour manhunt in Scottsboro.
“I just did my instincts and just did the best thing I knew to do to protect her,” said Molly Holder.
Holder and her daughter witnessed the officer-involved shooting that took place in Scottsboro early Saturday morning.
“He ran straight through, and the police came, and he hit this other car,” she said. “That’s what caught my attention. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh.’ We watched everything. It was just like up in the air, just flipping, at least flipped five times, if not more.”
Holder and her daughter, Malia, were sitting at the Taco Bell facing Highway 72. That’s when police say Daniel McCarn took off in his maroon Mustang, crashed into a Ford Expedition, got out and started shooting.
“The gunshots didn’t stop for a while….he was letting it go,” she said.
She sprang into fight or flight. Holder said she reversed the car through the drive-through, where she tried to find her and her daughter’s protection behind the building.
“Luckily, she knew what to do,” said Holder. “She was holding her ear and just kind of was leaning back, and I was like, ‘It’s going to be okay.’ So, I back out, and then I’m moving the car constantly to try to like refrain from the gunshots hitting us.”
While she was reacting in the moment, Holder said she couldn’t let her daughter’s face escape her.
“You feel like you can’t get a last look,” she said. “I couldn’t get enough of just looking at her. I felt like it may be my last moment with my daughter, so I was just looking at her, but also having to act while doing that.”
She said they are feeling timid and shaken up, ultimately just grateful to be alive.
“I hate that I witnessed it, and she witnessed it, but I’m thankful that I’m here,” she said. “I’m sorry to the people that were involved.”
Daniel McCarn is the man suspected in the officer-involved shooting. He was charged with attempted murder on Sunday morning.
Scottsboro police said the officer involved in the shooting is expected to make a full recovery after receiving treatment at Huntsville Hospital.
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