Man shoots woman with own gun, takes child hostage

PALMDALE, Calif. (AP) — A man who forced his way into a Southern California home shot a woman with her own gun and then held her young daughter at gunpoint before surrendering to police, authorities said Monday.

Erin Mauldin, 34, was arrested Sunday after he heeded orders to put down the gun in Palmdale, north of Los Angeles, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

He was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and kidnapping. He was jailed on $1 billion bail and it wasn’t immediately whether he had an attorney to speak for him.

The woman was entering her apartment at about 10:30 p.m. Sunday when the man asked if he could enter because someone was chasing him, according to the Sheriff’s Department.

When she refused, he forced his way inside and tried to attack her with a hammer, authorities said.

The woman ran into her bedroom and got a gun but the man overpowered her, took the weapon and shot her, authorities said.

The woman apparently received only a flesh wound, a neighbor who identified herself only as Destiny told KABC-TV.

“Once he shot her, he dragged her out the house and that’s how she got downstairs,” she said. “Once she got downstairs, she was able to get away from him.”

After the shooting, the gunman took the woman’s approximately 10-year-old daughter hostage, running down the street chased by her father, authorities said.

The father backed off when the man pointed the gun at him, and when deputies arrived the man held a gun to her head before obeying orders to drop the weapon, authorities said.

The girl’s mother was hospitalized in stable condition.

Deputies said it doesn’t appear the man knew the victim.