Cassandra Light suffered severe leg injuries after a masked gunman opened fire near a busy highway entrance.
TIJUANA, MEXICO — A Mission Beach woman is recovering from four surgeries after a masked gunman shot her during an attempted carjacking June 15 near Tijuana’s main bus terminal as she drove home from a weekend trip to Rosarito.
Cassandra Light, a San Diego life coach, suffered a shattered tibia and fibula when a bullet struck her leg. She received emergency treatment and her first operation in Tijuana before being transferred to a San Diego hospital. Authorities reported no arrests, leaving unanswered questions about the attacker, the black car used to block her path and why the gunman fled without taking her Mercedes SUV.
Light had spent the weekend in Rosarito with Ellie, her 2-year-old golden retriever, continuing a monthly routine the two had followed for about six months. On Monday afternoon, she began the drive north toward San Diego with Ellie riding in the back seat. Light said she was traveling on Bulevar Lázaro Cárdenas in eastern Tijuana and nearing a highway entrance when a black car suddenly moved across her path. “Black car, pulling out so fast in front of me, slides sideways and blocks me from taking the ramp onto the highway,” she said. The location was near Tijuana’s Central Camionera, a major bus station surrounded by busy roads, businesses and regular afternoon traffic. The encounter unfolded quickly, leaving Light stopped and unable to move around the car blocking her route.
A man wearing a mask and hat approached from the driver’s side and began pounding on Light’s window, she said. “All I could see was his eyes,” Light said. She recalled freezing in the driver’s seat as the man raised a handgun. He fired through the driver’s window, sending a bullet across the passenger compartment and through the opposite door. Light said she leaned back by instinct as the shot passed through the SUV. She believed the attacker was yelling for her to leave the vehicle, but the first gunshot left her ears ringing and made his words difficult to understand. The man then fired again. Light managed to release her seat belt before the attacker grabbed her and threw her onto the roadway. Local reports described the episode as a suspected attempted vehicle robbery and said the victim had been wounded in one leg.
While lying on the pavement, Light looked toward the Mercedes and saw Ellie’s head through an opening in the back seat. Light said her fear shifted immediately from her own injuries to the possibility that the attacker would drive away with the dog still inside. “Don’t take my dog,” she recalled screaming. She tried to move back toward the SUV but collapsed. Only then, she said, did she fully understand that a bullet had torn through her lower leg. Light described seeing exposed bone and heavy bleeding. The attacker left before taking the Mercedes, although it remains unclear whether approaching police sirens, traffic or another event caused him to flee. Light later said she was also unsure how Ellie escaped from the vehicle. The dog appeared beside her as Light began to lose consciousness.
Two people stopped to help Light while emergency crews responded. Paramedics provided first aid and transported her to a hospital in Tijuana, according to local reports issued the day of the shooting. Doctors determined that the gunfire had shattered both the tibia and fibula, the two major bones in the lower leg. Light underwent an initial operation in Mexico before being moved across the border for continued care in San Diego. She later underwent three additional surgeries, bringing the total to four. The full length of her recovery remains uncertain. The injuries can affect a person’s ability to stand, walk and bear weight, and Light said she faces a difficult rehabilitation. No other occupants were reported injured, and Ellie survived without a reported physical injury.
The June 15 shooting occurred on one of the heavily traveled routes in the eastern part of Tijuana, near the city’s central bus terminal and connections leading toward other major roads. Light had been returning from Rosarito, a coastal city south of Tijuana that draws frequent visitors from Southern California. The trip between Rosarito and San Diego brings drivers through urban traffic before they reach the ports of entry at the U.S.-Mexico border. Light said the weekend visits had offered her time to recharge with Ellie before the violence ended that routine. Her account also showed how an attack lasting only moments created medical and emotional consequences that continued weeks later. Authorities have not publicly identified the masked man or released a description beyond the information Light provided about his covered face, hat and approach from the driver’s side.
Mexican authorities were searching for the attacker after the shooting, but officials had not announced an arrest or criminal charges by the time Light publicly described the attack. Investigators had not released the black car’s make, model or license plate. They also had not said how many people were inside it, whether cameras near the bus terminal recorded the confrontation or whether the gunman had followed Light before blocking the highway entrance. The suspected motive remains vehicle theft, based on the attacker’s actions and apparent demand that Light get out. Authorities have not publicly explained why the Mercedes remained at the scene. Any prosecution would depend on Mexican investigators identifying a suspect and submitting evidence to Baja California prosecutors. No hearing, briefing or deadline for an investigative update had been announced.
For Light, Ellie’s appearance beside her on the roadway became one of the clearest memories from the attack. She said the dog remained close as strangers came to help and emergency responders took over. Light later called Ellie her best friend and said the golden retriever has helped her through the surgeries and early stages of recovery. “She’s getting me through the whole thing,” Light said. Her voice broke as she described trying to remain hopeful while dealing with pain, limited movement and the shock of being shot. She said she wants to keep a positive outlook but acknowledged that the recovery has been hard. Friends organized an online fundraiser to help cover medical bills and other costs, including an effort to have Ellie certified as a therapy dog that could someday visit patients in hospitals.
The attack also left Light trying to understand several missing pieces. She does not know how Ellie got out of the Mercedes, what caused the gunman to leave or whether the black car carried other suspects. She remembers hearing possible sirens but could not confirm when they began or whether they changed the attacker’s actions. The masked man’s covered face limited her ability to give investigators a detailed identification. The gunfire, blood loss and speed of the assault also affected what she could observe. Police had not disclosed whether they recovered shell casings, obtained surveillance video or interviewed the people who stopped to assist her. Light’s account remains the most detailed public description of what happened inside and around the SUV.
Light continues to recover in San Diego as the investigation remains open in Tijuana. No suspect had been publicly named and no arrest had been reported as of July 10. Her next milestones will center on additional medical care and rehabilitation while Mexican authorities continue working to identify the gunman.
Author note: Last updated July 10, 2026.