Woman recalls ordeal with car rental company following sniper shooting

ATLANTA - A wedding celebration turned into a traumatic experience for a New Jersey woman.

Eileen Murray, who lived in Atlanta for a decade, returned to the area earlier this month to attend the wedding in Helen.

The vehicle the family was riding in came under sniper assault from a gunman who shot sporadically from the woods.

Murray said one of the bullets traveled within a couple of inches of her son's head.

But her trauma from that day is only part of the story. The damaged vehicle was a rental. Murray said she followed the instructions from the Hertz agency and after one day turned the car over to the affiliated roadside assistance outfit. The car was towed.

Murray said she expected to be charged a fee for the time she had the car.

A few days later, she said, the car company demanded she returned the vehicle, apparently unaware she no longer had the damaged car.

Murray said her credit card got dinged over and over for $76 daily charges. She also started getting robocalls telling her to return the vehicle. She said she'd had enough when a letter arrived threatening legal action against her.

"It's all been too much," Murray said, "Every time I hear from Hertz it reminds me of the bullets hitting the window. I just want someone from Hertz to make this go away."

A Hertz executive, Charles Catalano, responded to FOX 5 News. He said company officials are sorry for Ms. Murray's ordeal and he made a promise to get the matter resolved.