Sleeping Teen Hit by Pellets Shot at Home

A sleeping 17-year-old was injured Friday morning when someone fired several pellets through her bedroom window, a Sheriff’s Department official said.

The teen-ager, whose name was not released, was taken to Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center in Mission Viejo, where four pellets were removed from her buttocks. Her injuries are not life-threatening, Lt. Tom Garner said.

The shooting occurred about 2 a.m. in the victim’s family home in the 26000 block of Carmenita Lane in Mission Viejo.

“To have something like this occur in that area is very unusual,” Garner said.

The pellets apparently came from a small-gauge shotgun and are similar to buckshot, which is used to shoot deer and other large game, Garner said. He did not know if the window had been open or if the attacker was on foot or in a car.

The shooting appears to be random, and authorities said there is no indication that it is gang related. The victim told authorities that no one would have any reason to harm her or her family.

“To our knowledge, they had not been threatened,” Garner said.

There were no witnesses to the shooting and investigators have few leads, Garner said. Anyone with information is asked to call the south investigations unit of the Sheriff’s Department at (714) 249-5221.