Infant Girl is Wounded in Chase of Anaheim Gunman

A baby girl was injured in a shoot-out in Anaheim this morning after a man being chased by police used a gun in a bid to commandeer the car that the infant’s mother was driving.

The infant, riding in a car seat, was hit by a bullet, according to police at the scene. Authorities would not state the nature or the extent of the child’s injuries, nor could they say who fired the bullet. They said the child was less than a year old.

Police said the incident began when an officer attempted to stop a white male for a traffic violation about 10:30 this morning. The motorist refused to pull over, and police chased him until he was halted by traffic at the intersection of State College Boulevard and La Palma Avenue.

Police said the man jumped out of his car and pointed a handgun at an officer. The officer fired at the man and missed.

Police said the man went to the head of the intersection, where he attempted to commandeer a car driven by a woman who had a baby in the back.

An eyewitness said the gunman, opened the door to the car and pulled the driver out.

The officer then fired another shot that shattered the rear windshield of the car, Anaheim Police Lt. Marc Hedgpeth said.

The man was arrested at the scene.

A machine gun was found inside a guitar case in the back seat of the suspect’s car, police said.

The car driven by the mother is a 1989 Mercury, registered to Jody Olmos of La Palma Avenue in Anaheim.

The infant was taken to UCI Medical Center. Spokeswoman Elaine Beno said the baby was in stable condition in the pediatric intensive care unit.

“The baby is undergoing evaluation and tests right now,” she said, but could not provide further details.

The suspect, whose identity is also not known, was driving a white Nissan registered to Hertz Corp. in Millbrae.