Woman Wounded in Home-Invasion Robbery

In what police are calling a home-invasion robbery, a west Ventura woman was stabbed and shot Wednesday morning by two men in her house.

Windy Lopez, 28, suffered a bullet wound to her stomach and a stab wound to her thigh after the men ransacked the townhouse and attacked her, police said.

Lopez was listed in serious but stable condition at Ventura County Medical Center after hours in the intensive care unit.

Lopez was alone in the home in the 300 block of West Harrison Avenue, when the attack occurred about 10 a.m., said Ventura Police Lt. Don Arth.

The men in hooded sweatshirts ransacked the residence, one of four townhomes across the street from the playing fields at West Park--smashing furniture and other belongings, Arth said.

No one in the area heard the shot, and the men apparently made their getaway unnoticed, Arth said.

Detectives were trying to determine how the men got inside the home, and the motive for the attack, Arth said.

Lopez managed to call police herself, screaming from pain and telling the officers that she had been shot, authorities said. When they arrived, she told them about the two men and asked the officers to pick up her children, who were in school a block away at Sheridan Way Elementary School.

The young boy and girl were picked up by police officers, said Arth. The detective would not say why Lopez was worried about her children’s safety.

Ventura police officers cordoned off the street within a few minutes, said Sgt. Bill Bogner, who was one of the first officers on the scene. There were unconfirmed reports that at least one of the suspects escaped on a motorcycle, Bogner said.

“It appears to be a home invasion kind of thing,” Bogner said. “But we really don’t know right now.”

A large-caliber handgun was found in the backyard, but police did not know whether it was the weapon used in the attack, Arth said.

Neighbor Georgina Juarez, who manages the complex, said Windy Lopez, her husband and two children moved into the townhouse three or four months ago. Lopez’s husband, Ruben works as a welder on an oil rig offshore.

“He’s gone for several days at a time,” Juarez said.

Hadly is a Times staff writer and Steepleton is a correspondent.