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Survivor of Colorado rock-throwing attacks speaks out: "It's horrible. Nobody should lose a child"

Survivor of rock-throwing attacks speaks out
Survivor of rock-throwing attacks speaks out 02:17

UPDATE: 3 suspects arrested in rock-throwing attacks

It's been nearly a week since a young woman was killed and two others were injured in a series of rock throwing incidents. Now, one of the drivers whose car was struck is speaking publicly about being one of the victims.

Nathan Tipton, of Lakewood, was working at night as a rideshare driver.

"It's definitely one of those situations that feels surreal," he told reporters at a news conference on Tuesday.

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Nathan Tipton CBS

Suddenly, he said, rocks struck his minivan, smashing out the driver's side windows as he was headed southbound on Highway 93, close to the Jefferson County and Boulder County lines.

"My first initial reaction was anger. I thought somebody threw something at my car and damaged my car, could've done something else to myself," said Tipton.

He was one of the lucky ones.

20-year-old Alexa Bartell, of Arvada, was killed when a rock struck her vehicle on Indiana Street that same night.

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Alexa Bartell  Jefferson County

That's what really impacted Tipton. "It's horrible. Nobody should lose a child," he said.

Tipton's was the third of seven similar rock attacks in a short time period. He believes it came from vehicles he could not identify that were headed the other direction.

"It was dark along Highway 93 and all I saw was headlights from those two vehicles and I was driving up an incline, so the headlights are even brighter when they are above you," Tipton said.

He wants whoever threw the rocks brought to justice, not so much for himself, but Bartell and her family.

There is a $17,000 reward in this case. Law enforcement is asking whoever was involved to turn themselves in.

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