Man Shot; Woman, 81, Is Arrested

An 81-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder Saturday after allegedly shooting the father of her great-grandson as he came to pick up the toddler at her Lake Forest home.

Alex Reyes, 26, was taken to Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo where he was in grave condition after being shot with a handgun once in the head and once in the hip, said Orange County sheriff’s spokesman Jim Amormino.

Jean Allen, the great-grandmother, was being held in the county’s Central Women’s Jail in Santa Ana.

“I wish we knew why,” Amormino said. “The victim, his ex-wife and the great-grandmother were on the front porch talking” while the man’s parents waited in a car.

“It appeared to be a casual conversation with no argument,” he said. “She just pulled out a gun and shot him.”

“I’m led to believe that there may have been some conflict between the families,” said Sheriff’s Lt. Hayward Miller.

The shooting occurred about 9:45 a.m. in the 25000 block of Coral Wood Street, Amormino said.

Reyes arrived at the home of Allen , his ex-wife’s grandmother, to pick up his 18-month-old son for a visit that required a court-appointed observer.

The observer had not arrived, Amormino said, because the father “got there a little bit early to help assemble a stroller.”

He said it was unclear why a court-appointed observer was required.