ATLANTA — An Uber passenger was shot multiple times during a ride early Tuesday morning, which led to an SUV full of passengers hopping out along a busy highway.
Now, Atlanta police are trying to piece together what happened and exactly who fired the gun.
This is the latest case of violence inside a rideshare vehicle -- just as Uber continues to expand and roll out new safety features.
The chaotic events overnight led Atlanta Police to multiple crime scenes, including a strip club to alongside an interstate highway to a Midtown hotel.
The Uber ride began shortly after 3 a.m. Tuesday on Northside Drive at the Diamond Gentlemen's Club, just off of Interstate 75.
Atlanta Police said the driver began driving southbound, toward the Downtown Connector. Five or six people were inside the Chevrolet Suburban.
Then, the driver told investigators, someone inside the SUV fired a gun.
"He wasn't sure, obviously, what was going on behind him," said Atlanta Police Capt. William Ricker. "So once everyone jumped out and ran, he saw a gun inside the car and blood -- and then he drove off the interstate and called the police."
The driver said he headed off to a safe location -- the Four Seasons Hotel in Midtown -- where he met with police, who allegedly found a gun and shell casings inside the SUV.
Officers said they picked up the 21-year-old shooting victim and spoke with another passenger from the Uber, but they did not give a clear description of what happened.
Recently Uber began expanding safety features for both riders and drivers.
Uber has been partnering with local law enforcement agencies, using software from a company called Rapid SOS for calls on any phone, allowing data and calls simultaneously. Dispatchers can see GPS coordinates showing the caller's location.
Also, the city of Roswell's 911 center became one of the latest to team up with Uber. The partnership uses Rapid SOS software.
If a rider or driver uses the "Emergency" button on the Uber app to call 911, dispatchers receive the car's GPS location as well as the car's make, model and license tag number.
The Roswell center's deputy director says it avoids confusion, where rideshare customers are often unfamiliar with their surroundings.
"They don't know where they're going, they don't even know what road they're on, often," said Roswell 911 Center deputy director John Potrzebowski. "So when you put all those together it really makes up a recipe where people don't know where they're at."
Since launching in August 2018, an Uber spokesperson says that more than 270 cities are now using the 911 integration.
Athens-Clarke County was the first community in Georgia to use the technology.
Shortly after launching the feature, a driver in Athens used it to help police quickly respond to a domestic violence situation and find his car in minutes.
Passengers who turn on the feature will receive a code before each trip. They give the code to the driver, and once verified by the Uber app, the trip can begin.
Uber expects all users to have the feature available by the end of this week.
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