Local News in Brief : Face Wound in Sniper Attack Traced to Bullet

A 13-year-old Pacoima girl who was wounded in a sniper attack April 1 as she rode a Rapid Transit District bus was struck by a bullet and not flying glass, authorities said Tuesday.

Earlier, police had said they did not know whether the girl, who has undergone corrective facial surgery, was hit by flying glass or the bullet itself.

A 14-year-old boy is charged with assault with a deadly weapon in the attack, and he and another boy, also 14, are charged with murder in the death by sniper fire of Mark Rodney Sanford, 26, of La Crescenta, a day later.

Doctors removed a fragment of a bullet last week from the upper lip of the girl on the bus, Los Angeles County Deputy Dist Atty. Janice L. Maurizi said.

Ballistics tests are being conducted on the bullet fragment to see if it was fired from a .22-caliber rifle that was found in the apartment of one of the boys. It is the suspected weapon in the shootings, Maurizi said.

The two boys, who are being held in Sylmar Juvenile Hall, have pleaded not guilty to the charges. They are scheduled for a detention hearing Monday in Sylmar Juvenile Court, and trial is scheduled to begin May 12, Maurizi said.