PHOENIX — The search for a suspect in a string of Phoenix freeway shootings took on a frenzied pace Thursday, with a panicked public flooding a police hotline with tips.

Police confirmed one of these reports as a shooting, raising to 11 the number of vehicles struck on Phoenix-area freeways since Aug. 29. Eight were hit by bullets and three by projectiles such as BBs and pellets.

One girl’s face was cut by glass as a bullet shattered her window.

Authorities are appealing for help through social media, news conferences, TV interviews and freeway billboards. The messages have morphed from “report suspicious activity” to “shooting tips” to the more ominous “I-10 shooter tip line” on Thursday.

Thousands of tips have come in, many proving to be false leads based on road hazards routine in Arizona, like windshields cracked by loose rocks sent airborne by the tires of other vehicles.

On Thursday alone, drivers reported possible shootings of an armored truck, two cars and two tractor-trailers. Authorities and TV crews scrambled to these scenes, only to discover minor damage.

Only one of these proved to be a shooting, Department of Public Safety spokesman Raul Garcia said. A commercial truck driver found a bullet hole in his cargo area after making hours of deliveries, so it was impossible to know where or exactly when it happened.