Altovise McCloud was on her way home from work, thinking of only good things, like her future wedding and the home she and her fiancé are building, when the unthinkable happened.

The 43-year-old UAB clinical lab assistant was at a stop sign in Moody when, seemingly out of nowhere, the woman in the car in front of her showed up at her window.

That woman, identified by police as 27-year-old Rebecca Armstrong, became to cuss at McCloud, accused her of following her for weeks, and then shot her, McCloud said.

“It was so terrifying,’’ said McCloud, the mother of three sons. “I don’t know why she would do this.”

Armstrong is charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault, discharging a firearm into an occupied vehicle and reckless endangerment, and remains without bond in the St. Clair County Jail.

Earlier today, a St. Clair County Judge forwarded the cases to a grand jury for indictment consideration.

Court records do not yet list an attorney for Armstrong.

The shooting happened about 5 p.m. Wednesday, July 19, in the area of Highway 411 and Kerr Road.

The longtime UAB employee was on her way home from the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at the time.

“I love my job. I love the people,’’ McCloud said. “I have a bright spirit. I love laughter. I’ve always been like that. I try to help people.”

Driving home, she took an alternate route to avoid the always-congested Moody Parkway.

Armstrong, whose name McCloud did not know at the time, was sat a stop sign, and McCloud pulled up behind her.

“I was just listening to music,’’ she said.

McCloud didn’t realize how long they had been sitting there until she heard a car horn from behind, and noticed there was a line of about five vehicles behind her.

McCloud said she was wondering if she should get out and check on the woman in front of her when all of the sudden that woman – Armstrong – got out of her Maxima and started screaming at McCloud.

McCloud’s window was rolled about halfway down.

“I’m naïve I guess, but I didn’t think she was going to do anything, so I didn’t roll the window up,’’ she said.

Armstrong called McCloud cursed at her and accused her of following her.

“You’ve been following me for days,’’ she told McCloud. “Why have you been following me.”

McCloud said she was stunned. She’d never seen the woman before, and repeatedly told her that she didn’t know her and definitely had not been following her.

This went on for a few minutes.

“I looked down and she had a pistol in her hand,’’ McCloud said. “I’m just calling God, Jesus, Lord.”

“I didn’t cuss her out because she had a gun in her hand,’’ she said. “I didn’t want to make her even madder.”

Armstrong then pointed the gun at McCloud.

“Her face was so close,’’ she said. “When I looked back at her, she had the barrel of the gun just pointed at me.”

“I had my hands up and I was thinking this has got to be a dream,” McCloud said.

That’s when she said Armstrong shot her.

“It went through my hand and my face, and it came out the other side,’’ she said. “She shot again into the car, but that bullet didn’t hit me.”

McCloud began to cry and again tried to tell Armstrong she didn’t know her.

The driver in the car behind McCloud got out of vehicle and ran away.

“She was terrified,’’ McCloud said. “She thought the lady was going to shoot her too.”

“But she was only fixated on me,’’ McCloud said. “Blood was everywhere. I’ve never seen so much blood. It was just pouring out of my face onto my lap.”

The bullet went through McCloud’s cheek and broke her cheekbone. It also shattered her sinus plate.

“It was a bad spot, but it was the perfect spot,’’ McCloud said. “It may take a long time, but it will heal.”

McCloud said Armstrong continued to scream at her about being followed even after the shooting.

“I put the car in whatever gear I could find. I turned the wheel, press the gas and it went to a ditch,’’ she said. “I’m stuck. The wheel is just spinning. I’m crying, and she’s still standing at the top of the hill, yelling.”

Eventually, McCloud was able to drive away after hitting another car.

“My car was clunking, clacking,’’ she said. “I was like please just let me get far away from her. I’m just praying.”

Her car stopped down the street, and others came to help her.

“They were taking off their shirts trying to hold pressure to my face,’’ she said. “I’m hysterical, I’m shaking. I couldn’t talk. I couldn’t breathe.”

She said she worried about the people behind her.

“Once I got calm, I’m asking them go check on the people still back there,’’ she said. “That’s just me.”

She praised the police for their response.

“Moody PD, all of them, went into grandaddy, daddy mode,’’ she said. “They were just like taking care of me. It was so calming.”

“They were just wonderful,’’ she said. “They said they will get to the bottom of it.”

Armstrong was captured by police a short distance away.

According to the arrest report, she was handcuffed and then “began crying uncontrollably” and said she wanted her brother. Ultimately, she asked for an attorney.

McCloud has had surgery to clear her face wounds, but they are trying to let it heal slowly and on its own so as not to alter her appearance.

She also has to have surgery on her hand, but she’s not yet well enough to do so.

As painful as her physical wounds are, she said the emotional injuries are possibly worse.

“Nightmares, jumpy, jittery, anxiety,’’ she said. “I’m eating baby food. I’ve lost so much weight.’’

She also thinks about the what-ifs.

What if the bullet had hit higher? What if she had pulled her own gun and killed Armstrong? What if she had just taken a different route. What if somebody else had been injured?

Doctors have told her the physical recovery could take six months to a year.

A GoFundMe has been set up to help with her recovery. Donations can be made here.

“This was a random senseless act of violence,’’ the GoFundMe reads. “And she will undergo countless medical procedures for her face and hand. She will be out of work for months.”

“She is a mother, fiancé, sister and an amazing friend to everyone,’’ according to the site. “Please help her.”

McCloud says she wants to ask Armstrong “Why?”

“I don’t understand why she would do this,’’ McCloud said. “When I looked in her eyes, she had on some Aviator sunglasses, but you could see her eyes, they were just fixated on me. It was evil.”