LA HABRA : Shooting Victim’s Condition Improves

A woman critically wounded in a weekend shooting improved on Monday, and a friend was in custody on an attempted-murder charge.

Loraine Mapula, 30, of La Habra was upgraded from critical to satisfactory condition and was to be discharged Monday night from UCI Medical Center, a spokeswoman said. She had been shot in the upper left shoulder Sunday afternoon in the parking lot, between a market and a hamburger stand in the 500 block of West La Habra Boulevard.

Salvador Mora, 59, was arrested as he ran from the shooting shortly afterward, Police Sgt. Mike Moore said. A handgun was found on the ground in the parking lot. Mora was booked on suspicion of attempted murder and was being held in lieu of $250,000 bail, Moore said.

Investigators have established that Mora and Mapula are friends who began arguing in the parking lot. The nature of the dispute was not yet clear, Moore said.

“He did tell us he was there and he was in an argument with her, and that he did fire the weapon,” Moore said. “But the motivation is still somewhat obscure.”