Spandex Pants Prove Too Much for a Bullet

Apair of tight Spandex pants won a contest against a speeding bullet during a strange shooting incident in Oceanside, police reported Friday.

Senior Officer Bob George said a large-caliber slug hit 20-year-old Rosa Rena in the left buttock. But the bullet didn’t get very far because of her stretch pants.

“The pants held their shape. The bullet entered the body, and it was flung back out,” George said. “It was like a slingshot.”

Rena, who was shot as she sat inside a car, drove herself to Tri-City Medical Center, where X-rays revealed the bullet had driven 2 inches into her, but the projectile wasn’t in her body.

George said investigators later found the bullet inside the vehicle. The shooting left a second person more seriously wounded and three suspects on the loose.

Rena, who lives in Oceanside, and a male companion had driven to an address in the 3200 block of Carolyn Circle at the western end of the San Luis Valley about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to George.

Rena stayed in the car while the companion went to get a male resident from the house, and the two men began walking back toward the street.

Suddenly, three other men on foot appeared and began shooting one or more handguns in what George called “a run-by shooting.” He said six or seven bullets hit the vehicle, and another struck the resident of the house in the back.

George said the unidentified 17-year-old resident was taken to Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla and remains in serious condition. There are no descriptions of the three assailants, and police are asking any witnesses to contact authorities.