Woman at Altar Shot by 2 Youths Outside Church
Two teen-agers shouted “trick or treat” outside a crowded South-Central Los Angeles church Sunday before firing two shots into the sanctuary and wounding a woman standing at the altar, Los Angeles fire officials said.
The woman was identified by a member of the congregation as Maria de Jesus Garcia, 47. She was shot shortly after 7 p.m. through an open door at El Verbo de Dios (The Word of God) Pentecostal church in the 5900 block of South Hoover Street.
Patti Vasquez, who was at the service, said one bullet hit Garcia in the stomach.
She was taken to Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center, where she underwent surgery. A nursing supervisor said Garcia’s condition was stable.
Vasquez said church members who contacted the hospital were told that the woman was “going to be fine.”
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