WINDOW OF DEPUTY'S CAR SHOT OUT IN A.V. MALL LOT.

Byline: KAREN MAESHIRO Staff Writer

PALMDALE -- A gunman shot out a window of a sheriff's patrol car parked at the Antelope Valley Mall, but no one was hurt, officials said Friday.

The deputy was inside the mall at 5:55 p.m. Thursday investigating a shoplifting complaint when someone fired at the car with a small-caliber firearm or possibly a pellet gun, Sgt. Vince Carter said. The car was parked on the north side of the Gottschalks department store in the 1100 block of West Avenue P.

Anyone with information about the incident is being asked to call the Palmdale sheriff's station at [phone].

The shooting marks the third time Palmdale deputies have been targeted in the past month. On Aug. 3, a sniper fired at a group of a half-dozen deputies involved in a narcotics investigation near an apartment complex at Fifth Street East and Avenue Q. No one was hit.

That incident occurred about a block away from the scene nine days earlier, where a sniper fired twice at a deputy with the Partners Against Crime unit near an apartment building at Fifth Street East and Avenue Q-3.

The deputy was getting into his vehicle when he heard a pop and saw a bullet ricochet off the ground. When he turned to look back at the apartments, he heard another shot. The deputy was not hit.

karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com

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