News

Gloucester Police searching for hit & run driver who hit 61-year-old retiree

GLOUCESTER, Mass. — A North Shore retiree is in agonizing pain after being run down in a crosswalk and left for dead.

While the crime was caught on camera, the culprit still remains at large.

Boston 25 News learned the victim had just left a friend's 60th birthday party at the Crow's Nest bar and had almost made it to the crosswalk when she was hit and launched in the air.

“They looked and saw something flying through the air they realized it was a person," said Mary Anne Shatford, the victim's friend and owner of the bar. "Why would you hit someone and just keep going?"

Shatford told Boston 25 News the victim had just finished helping her clean up and was walking to the crosswalk to get to her car.

“Someone ran in and said, 'Mary Anne, your friend was hit by a car,'" said Shatford. "It was shocking, all I can remember is sitting with Nancy and holding her head and trying not to move it because we didn’t know how bad the injuries were at that time."

Shatford, the victim's best friend, says 61-year-old Nancy Gambal lived through the agonizing experience in a conscious state on Sunday morning, just after midnight. According to Shatford, Gambal remains in extreme pain.

"She flipped over, hit the ground and skidded under a parked car," said Shatford. "She has a broken pelvis, broken wrist, broken eye socket, broken nose, broken sinus cavity and broken skull."

Gambal is still in a rehab facility, unable to walk.

“They kept going, they didn’t hit the brakes, they didn’t slow down, she could’ve been killed," said Shatford. “Just for her to think that some random person ran her down and just kept going and didn’t care if she was dead or alive, I think it's horrible."

Based on surveillance footage, police believe the suspect was driving a dark colored newer model sports utility vehicle. Investigators believe there should be some type of damage to the front passenger side and headlight area.

>> MORE: 1 year later, still no answers in fatal East Brookfield hit-and-run