A former multi-sport athlete at Park Hill High School was killed on Sunday, April 28 in Waterloo, Iowa.
Micalla Rettinger
Micalla Rettinger was killed while driving on Highway 218 in what appears to be a random shooting, according to Waterloo police chief Dan Trelka.
Rettinger, 25, was shot in the neck and died from the injuries. Her boyfriend, Adam Kimball, 32, was shot in the face and is being treated in Iowa City, Iowa, according to the Des Moines Register.
Police believe the same bullet that hit Rettinger also hit Kimball, who was sitting in the back seat, according to KWWL-TV.
A third person was in the vehicle but was not injured. All three were returning from work in Cedar Falls when the shooting happened at 2:30 a.m. KWWL stated that Rettinger drove to the first exit off the highway, where she was pronounced dead at the scene.
The police chief surmised it could’ve been a random shooting, or a shooter targeted the wrong vehicle or perhaps someone was hunting illegally in the wooded area near the scene of the shooting.
There is a $5,000 reward offered for information on the case.
Rettinger was an all-state softball player at Park Hill and also played basketball for the Trojans. She later became a standout at Northern Iowa. Her alma mater held a moment of silence prior to a game on Tuesday, April 30 against Iowa.
Rettinger led UNI in hits her senior season and was a two-time All-Missouri Valley Conference pick. She graduated with a degree in biology in 2016.
“I am devastated,” UNI coach Ryan Jacobs said in a press release. “KK was a pretty special kid to us. I can still see the smile on her face and I remember the way she always thought of other people first in a genuine way. When we had youth camps, she was one that all the kids on campus would be drawn to. This is a huge loss to our team and everyone that knew her.”