The 2011 Ford F-150 looks as good as new, but the flawless paint hides the trauma it, its owner and a whole community went through earlier this year.
Staff at Elite Automotive of Lake Forest spent more than 165 hours restoring the truck that had been riddled with bullets in August when a retired Ventura police officer, who had walked into Cook’s Corner and began shooting at people, was confronted by Orange County Sheriff’s Department deputies. The shooter was killed in the standoff with police.
Three people died and six more were wounded in the mass shooting.
The truck’s owner, Savannah Hopkins, who was working at the beloved roadhouse grill tucked away in Trabuco Canyon, has told reporters and officials that when she came face-to-face with the shooter she told him she was pregnant and he told her to run.
Hopkins, who is due in January, sat in a conference room at the Elite Automotive shop on Thursday and spoke more about her experience before heading outside to accept the return of her restored truck.
The community had rallied to help her through a GoFundMe her family organized after the shooting to repair the vehicle, raising about $18,000, but Elite Automotive did the work for free. Lake Forest Mayor Doug Cirbo delivered a resolution of thanks from the city to owners Ziad Traieh and Eddie Yau and their crew on Thursday. Some deputies who had responded that night were also in attendance.
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