La Mesan Says Her Cell Phone Call to 911 Failed on Day of Freeway Shootings

A La Mesa woman says she tried but failed to reach 911 after witnessing the Oct. 3 freeway shooter in San Diego—a call that might have prevented one motorist’s wounding, according to an online report.

Miriam Plotkin of La Mesa told East County Magazine that she spotted the suspect’s vehicle with a gun pointed out of the window while heading north on Interstate 805.

“I pushed 911 quickly… only to be suddenly told ‘Sorry, emergency calls only.’ Well if seeing a gun pointed out of a window isn’t [an emergency], what is?” Plotkin was quoted as saying by Jeremy Los in East County Magazine, the online-only news site run by Mount Helix resident Miriam Raftery.

Enrique Ayon is accused of shooting at four vehicles that day on two San Diego freeways, leaving one person wounded.

“Today, I live with the fact that I could have prevented further trouble,” Plotkin was quoted as saying.

Plotkin was profiled a year ago in La Mesa Patch as an assistant inspector at Maryland Avenue Elementary's polling place.

She was a soon-to-be-18-year-old during the Vietnam War who wanted to register to vote.

Before the 26th Amendment, she said, “People went to die at age 18, but could not vote.”

When Plotkin’s mom asked her why she wanted to vote, she replied, “To change the world.”

Plotkin says she has worked at the polls for more than 30 years.

“Whose vote is most important to you? Your own,” she told Genevieve Suzuki.