Fetus Dies After Woman Is Wounded Outside Home

Police were searching Tuesday for the gunman who shot a 22-year-old woman--who was seven months pregnant--as she and her fiance stood in front of their Hyde Park home. The woman survived but the fetus died.

Terri Clark was reported in stable condition at an undisclosed hospital. Los Angeles police said she and her fiance, Dion Patterson, were standing in the driveway of their home in the 700 block of East 81st Street when two men walked up and began speaking to them at 11:30 p.m. Monday.

“Clark had been uncomfortable because of the heat,” Detective Dick Simmons said. “They had gone out to get a breath of fresh air.”

But after the brief exchange, one of the men opened fire, striking Clark in the right side of her abdomen, police said.

It was not until after Patterson pulled Clark into their home that they realized she had been shot, detectives said. She was rushed to the hospital.

The fetus died early Tuesday as doctors performed surgery to remove the bullet.

Police were still trying to determine a motive for the shooting.

“It’s like we’re living in Beirut or something,” said a neighbor, Carolyn Simmons. “They’re always shooting around here, and they’re always getting the wrong person.”