A driver was shot in the face in a spray of gunfire from a neighboring car midday Tuesday in a central Anchorage neighborhood.

The gunshots came just before 3 p.m. near Valley of the Moon Park when a white sedan opened fire on a passing Chevrolet driven by 35-year-old Carlton Donnelly.

Donnelly, who was struck multiple times, was being treated at a local hospital Tuesday night and was expected to survive, police spokeswoman Marlene Lammers said.

Police are searching for the white sedan and don't know what led to the shooting, she said. "Did they know each other? Was there history there?"

Callers first reported the gunfire about 2:55 p.m. While the details are sketchy, Lammers says police believe the two vehicles were both headed east on 16th Avenue.

The white sedan stopped near the intersection with E Street. At least three people were inside. Donnelly's car continued past.

Someone in the white sedan began shooting, punching a string of bullet holes across Donnelly's shiny, silver sedan.

"He was hit multiple times and at least once in the face. He was bleeding pretty profusely from the face," Lammers said.

It's unclear if more than one person fired the shots, she said. The white car made a U-turn and headed south on E Street toward Valley of the Moon Park, Lammers said.

Police found a collection of shell casings near the intersection. If the cars were headed east, they must have just turned onto 16th from E Street. Lammers said she didn't know which direction the vehicles had been coming from.

Following the shooting, Donnelly's car continued east on 16th, coming to a stop along Eagle Street across from the Sullivan Arena, police said.

That's when the shooting victim switched vehicles. He either got out of his car or was taken out by people who had arrived in a white Chevy Tahoe and planned to take him to the hospital, the police spokeswoman said.

Acting on a tip from witnesses, police stopped the SUV at the nearby intersection of 15th Avenue and Gambell Street. Medics moved Donnelly yet again -- this time into an ambulance.

"He was unconscious, but he was alive," Lammers said.

Police questioned the occupants of the SUV that rescued Donnelly, she said. "We don't know if the Tahoe was somehow involved in this whole thing."

Within an hour of the shooting, Lammers stood at Eagle and 16th talking with reporters as a tow truck hauled away the Chevy sedan. The right front tire was blown, and four bullet holes tattooed the windshield.

The neighborhood was quiet, save for idling police cars. Blocks away, police placed evidence markers in the roadway near E Street.

Donnelly was alone in the silver Chevrolet when he was shot, police believe.

Find Kyle Kopkins at khopkins@adn.com or 257-4334.

Police spokeswoman Marlene Lammers talks with reporters at 16th and Eagle, shortly after the shooting. (Video by KYLE HOPKINS)