Micalla Rettinger's dad jolted awake in Florida with a bad feeling. She'd been fatally shot on a highway in Iowa

Steven Rettinger was in Florida spending time with his father who's fighting cancer, and woke up suddenly about 3:30 a.m. his time Sunday. A time zone away, his 25-year-old daughter had just been hit by gunfire in Waterloo around 2:30 a.m. local time, he said.

"I must've woke up right when it was happening," he told the Des Moines Register.

He told the paper his daughter aspired to become a dentist, and was likely dropping off her boyfriend after his shift at a local bar. Her boyfriend was also shot and is expected to survive, he said.

"It was shocking and knocked the wind out of me," Steven Rettinger told CNN affiliate KGAN. "She was everybody's friend and she would give you the shirt off her back if she thought you needed it."

Police asking for the public's help

Micalla Rettinger was in the car with two passengers when she was hit in the neck, police said. One passenger, Adam Kimball, 32, was injured and is being treated at a local hospital while the third person was not hurt, police said.

"There is nothing to indicate the victims in this case were in any way involved in any activity that would have caused them to be targeted in this manner," police said in a statement.

Waterloo authorities are asking for the public's help in identifying anyone involved in the shooting or who could have been hunting near the Cedar River. They are offering a $7,000 reward for any information leading to the arrest of the person responsible.

Rettinger graduated from the University of Northern Iowa in 2016 with a degree in biology. She was a member of the school's softball team.

"We are devastated to learn of the senseless death of Micalla Rettinger," said David Harris, the university's director of athletics. "This news is heartbreaking to our softball team ... and the entire campus. Our thoughts and prayers are with Micalla's family and friends."

The Northern Iowa softball team honored her with a moment of silence before the home season finale Tuesday night.

CNN's Christina Maxouris and Joe Sutton contributed to this report

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