PHILADELPHIA — Maritza Arias-Galva was on her way home from the grocery store in Atlantic County on Thursday, eager to celebrate her own belated birthday party with her children on her day off work. She’d bought a small cake, balloons, and all she needed to cook pasta and shrimp, one of her 9-year-old daughter’s favorite meals.

But when the 42-year-old mother of three tried to merge into another lane of traffic on Wrangleboro Road in Galloway Township her day took a horrific turn.

“I put my blinkers on, and he didn’t like it,” Arias-Galva said of another driver. She recounted what happened from her bed at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.

Arias-Galva said the driver blocked her from merging into his lane. Then, the man pursued her in his white Honda SUV.

At an intersection on West Jimmie Leeds Road, Arias-Galva put down her window to hear from the angry driver.

“I wasn’t arguing with him,” she said. “I know that kind of person, because I work customer service. I just said, ‘Thank you, sir.’ And he said he was taking my life today.”

The man shot her in the face, but somehow, Arias-Galva was able to call 911. As she told police what happened, she fought to remain conscious.

“I was thinking about my kids,” she said. “I was thinking, I need to survive this. I’m the only family they have in New Jersey.”

Hours later, Galloway Township police said they had arrested the shooter, whom they identified as 46-year-old Ernest W. Heinz of Port Republic, in Atlantic County.

Police charged Heinz with attempted homicide, aggravated assault and several weapons infractions. He is being held at the Atlantic County Justice Facility. Police said the shooting is “the result of an isolated road-rage incident.”

“The prompt and professional actions of our officers resulted in a quick apprehension of Mr. Heinz,” said Chief Eric B. Hendrickson in a social media post. “We wish Ms. Arias-Galva a swift recovery, and we are here to support our community following this senseless incident.”

People online quickly pointed out that Heinz is an actor, though it appears his career sputtered out after 2014. Heinz’s IMDB profile showed a minor role in the 2011 biographical drama "J. Edgar," as well as work in two "Resident Evil" video games. Heinz also had minor or uncredited roles in "The Prestige," "The Sopranos" and other movies and TV shows.

Outpouring for Arias-Galva

Within hours, friends took to social media to support and fundraise for Arias-Galva.

“Yesterday, our dear friend, coworker, and loving mother was the victim of a senseless act of violence,” Adriana Danzieri wrote on Facebook. Danzieri said she and Arias-Galva work together as guest service agents at Spirit Airlines.

“She is a hardworking woman, holding down two jobs as a single mother, doing everything she can to provide for her little girl,” Danzieri said. “It breaks our hearts to see her in this situation, when all she has ever done is work hard and take care of her family.”

In the post, Danzieri encouraged people to donate to Arias-Galva’s family, adding, “let’s all come together and lift her up with love, prayers, and support.”

Speaking from the hospital Saturday, Arias-Galva said she’s recovering from an emergency surgery and is grateful for her friends and family.

“I’m glad that I’m here, alive, and I can tell my story,” she said.

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