Pregnant Woman Is Shot : Crime: She is the third wounded by gunfire in the county in a week. She and a companion were victims of a robbery attempt.

The third pregnant woman in a week has fallen victim to a street shooting in Los Angeles County.

The most recent victim, Maria Lopez, 29, of Paramount, was wounded early Wednesday during a robbery attempt in Long Beach.

Lopez was struck once in the abdomen and her companion, Mark Robert Arias, 31, of Long Beach, was shot and killed as they sat in a parked car at 12:45 a.m., Police Detective Ron Pavek said.

The gunman demanded money from the couple and started shooting when Arias replied that he only had $3, Pavek said.

With Arias unconscious in the driver’s seat, Lopez managed to drive to Charter Suburban Hospital in Paramount, where she underwent surgery.

Lopez was in guarded condition Wednesday afternoon, hospital spokesman Allen Meadows said. The 5-month-old fetus was not struck by the bullet and was in good condition, Meadows said.

On Monday evening, another pregnant woman was standing on the porch of a home in South Los Angeles when she was struck once in the head by a bullet.

Kara Cooper, 20, was taken to County-USC Medical Center, where she was in extremely critical condition. Cooper’s 8-month-old fetus was not injured, hospital spokeswoman Adelaida de la Cerda said. Witnesses told police investigators that the unidentified gunman fled into an alley.

On Oct. 24, a 38-year-old woman was gunned down as she walked home with her boyfriend in a West Los Angeles neighborhood, Police Detective Elliot Rada said.

The detective said Pauline Ellis, who was expecting to give birth in a month, died in a hail of bullets that may have been meant for her 29-year-old boyfriend because of a previous dispute with the gunmen.

“The weather was nice for walking, and (Ellis) had to get out and exercise a little to relieve the discomfort of being eight months pregnant,” Rada said. “She would have had a baby girl if she and the fetus had lived.”

In Orange County, a pregnant woman was shot Tuesday as she left her gynecologist’s office.

Janet C. Totten, 29, of Westminster was treated at Hoag Memorial Hospital in Newport Beach for a single rifle shot wound to the face, Lt. Ed McErlain said. She was listed in satisfactory condition and her 5-month-old fetus was not harmed, McErlain said.

Totten told investigators that she had obtained a temporary restraining order against her husband, Anthony L. Totten, 32, for alleged death threats to her and her unborn child.

Huntington Beach police arrested Anthony Totten on Wednesday.