The amount of reward money continues to increase for information that left a Montgomery wife and mother paralyzed after she was caught in crossfire.
Amy Dicks, 43, was stopped at a red light April 12 when someone nearby opened fire. When the shooting stopped, Dicks was paralyzed from the chest down.
Central Alabama Crime Stoppers on Wednesday announced $10,000 available to anyone who provides information that leads to an arrest.
On Thursday, $5,000 more was posted, bringing the total to $15,000.
“Our city is being terrorized by gangs and violence. Anything I can do to get some of these criminals off the street, I will do,’’ said Montgomery County District 3 Commissioner Rhonda Walker.
“In every case of violence, somebody knows something. I hope these funds are an incentive for someone to do the right thing and call Crimestoppers,’’ Walker said. “We have too many unsolved crimes and too many criminals on the street.”
Walker on Wednesday added $5,000 to the Crime Stoppers reward. On Thursday, Alabama State Rep. Reed Ingram added another $5,000.
The shooting happened about 1 p.m. that Friday.
Dicks, a wife and mother, was driving in the 5500 block of Atlanta Highway when she stopped at a red light and shots rang out.
“All of the sudden, I heard multiple gunshots, seemed like thousands,’’ Dicks said in a Facebook post. “I ducked my head trying to look around to see if I could tell what was going on.”
“It was so weird because there were so many and out of nowhere and it caught me off guard,’’ she wrote.
“Then that’s when it happened, a bullet entered my driver’s window, pierced my should, went through my side, hit a rib, my lug and then severed my spinal court,’’ Dicks wrote.
“As my body convulsed and everything was in slow motion, I knew I wasn’t going to make it.”
She wrote that she called her husband and her mother and told them she loved them.
Dicks underwent surgery to remove the bullet but remains paralyzed.
This week, she was moved to Shepherd Center in Atlanta, which specializes in spinal cord and brain rehabilitation.
The shooting has outraged Dicks friends, family, and the community.
Last week, they attended a Montgomery City Council meeting to speak out against the violence in the city.
Multiple fundraisers are ongoing, and a Facebook group dedicated to Dicks now has more than 4,000 members.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 334-215-STOP (7867) or 1-833-AL1-STOP (251-7867). Tips can also be submitted via the P3-tips app.