COCOA -- Police continued searching Wednesday for the person who shot a 46-year-old mother of three to death as she was getting into a car in the driveway of a friend's apartment, according to Local 6 News partner Florida Today.

The shooting happened about 10:50 p.m. Tuesday along the 1200 block of A Street. Police arrived within minutes and found the woman -- identified as Christy Sanford of Canaveral Groves -- shot to death in a green vehicle parked in an apartment complex with the lights still on.

"We have all been interviewing witnesses and canvassing the neighborhood," said Barbara Matthews, spokeswoman for the Cocoa Police Department and one of several detectives who worked on the case through the night.

Matthews said Sanford -- also a grandmother and an animal lover -- was visiting a friend to pick up an injured dog, Florida Today reported.

The shooting occurred nearly a block from Endeavour Elementary School, which was closed at the time. Police believe the shooter drove off from the apartment and then possibly got into a second vehicle.

Police do not know if she was the immediate target or if there was another motive, such as a robbery.

As police continued arriving and cordoned off the scene, more than 30 residents, some seeming frightened, some concerned, gathered outside waiting to know what happened. In the flash of blue and red lights, Cocoa police brought out track dogs, which immediately trailed a scent to a nearby area, Matthews said.

Cocoa resident Katherine Brown said she heard three to four gunshots from across the street and saw a burst of light from her apartment.

"I seen shots out the window, and I heard someone say, "Lord! I've been shot." And I called 911," Brown said.

Sanford's 18-year-old daughter later arrived at the police station to pick up her 16-year-old sister who was comforted by a victim's advocate for much of the night.

"She cared for her children and everybody else and every animal that she came across," said James Sargent, the woman's father who said his daughter attended Brevard Community College and was studying to go in the medical field.

Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.