The Region : Woman Killed as She Kneels in Prayer

As her husband and their 12 children sat in the living room with four guns trained on them, a Vietnamese woman was shot to death as she prayed beside her bed, Santa Ana police said. Investigators believe that the attack was part of a failed robbery attempt. Five masked gunmen, all believed to be Vietnamese between 16 and 20 years old, charged into the modest home, police said. Four of them forced the family to sit in the living room while a fifth ransacked the other rooms, and then fired a bullet into the upper body of Huyen Ehi Hoang. Hoang, 46, was pronounced dead at the scene. “From all indications,” police spokeswoman Maureen Thomas said, “the victim was shot without provocation.” Hoang’s children believe that their mother was shot because the gunman’s mask slipped off and he panicked, police said.