A pregnant woman and her young daughter have been wounded by gunfire, and questions have been raised about how the Ventura County Fire Department handled the incident.
Port Hueneme Police say the shooting happened at around 10 Tuesday night on the 100 block of East Pearl Street. The little girl's father took her down the street to Fire Station 53, on the 300 block of North Second Street. Police officers drove the victim to the Ventura County Medical Center, after the father didn't get an immediate response from firefighters.
The child had serious injuries, and was taken to a hospital in Los Angeles, where she's reported to be in a coma. The mother is reported to be in stable condition.
Multiple shots were apparently fired at the victim's home, with shell casings found in the street. They think someone in the house was being targeted, and that there may have been two gunmen involved. Neighbors didn't call police, because they apparently thought the shots were fireworks.
The Ventura County Fire Department issued a statement in response to the Police Department's concerns about the immediacy of firefighters response. Fire Chief Mark Lorenzen says they responded in less than two minutes, and treated the wounded mother.