In California, police say a pregnant woman was shot multiple times at a Los Angeles park but her baby survived. The unidentified victim is 18-years old and six or seven months pregnant. Miraculously, none of the bullets hit her unborn child but the woman is in critical condition. Unfortunately, the shooter ran off and police have not been able to identify a suspect.
Jonathan Diaz witnessed the shooting and said that he heard at least six shots fired. He said, “About six shots and that’s when the cops came in. It’s pretty bad. Pretty sad, too.” Currently, police believe the incident was the result of gang violence from the Burlington Locos gang. According to the Los Angeles Times, the Pico-Union neighborhood where the incident occurred has a higher-than-average violent crime rate.
Resident Maria de Lourdes Baez also heard the gunshots but didn’t see where they came from because she was worried about her two children. She said, “I don’t feel safe here. I almost never go out because of the danger. I don’t take them out because you never know when the gunshots are going to start. The truth is, it’s really dangerous here.”
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An 18-year-old pregnant woman was out of surgery and clinging to life Monday after she was shot several times in Los Angeles’ Pico-Union neighborhood.
The teenager, who was six months pregnant, was shot Sunday night. She was found at a park in the 1700 block of Toberman Street just south of Venice Boulevard and north of the 10 Freeway, said Sgt. Michael Williams of the LAPD’s Rampart Station.
Los Angeles Fire Department crews rushed the woman to a hospital. where she underwent emergency surgery.
The woman was listed in critical, but stable, condition, said LAPD Officer Rosario Herrera. It was not immediately clear if the woman was directly targeted, Herrera said.
As LifeNews previously reported, in 2013 Taeler Shaltry became the fatal victim of a shooting in Detroit but the story of her death ended on an extraordinary note because paramedics were able to save her nine-month-old unborn child. Daniel Walinsky was one of the first paramedics who arrived at scene and realized Shaltry’s baby could be rescued if he acted quickly. He said, “I don’t know how far along she is, or say whether the baby will survive; I let the doctors make that call.”
Shaltry was taken to Henry Ford Hospital and her daughter was delivered via emergency Caesarean section. Walinsky added, “Babies are very resilient. I’ve seen women killed in car accidents and the babies survive.”
In 2004, President Bush signed the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, which protected unborn babies killed through violence. Additionally, in the United States 36 states have fetal-homicide laws, 24 of which protect unborn children from the time of conception, and 38 states have wrongful-death laws, which protect unborn children at least after viability.
After the federal Unborn Victims of Violence Act passed, Denise Burke, an attorney with Americans United for Life, said pro-life advocates must now turn their attention to state legislatures to make sure every woman is protected. She said, “While the Unborn Victims of Violence Act is a significant victory for victims of violent crime and their families, it is important to remember that homicide is primarily a state crime, as opposed to a federal crime. So, it is critically important that all 50 states provide similar protection for the unborn.”
