Family of California woman shot by deputy wants to know why

Sheriff’s officials said Jennifer Orey, 36, was shot during a surprise encounter with a deputy in her back yard Sunday night. The bullet first grazed her chest, then went through her arm and ricocheted off her pinky finger.

The incident occurred sometime after 10:25 p.m. as deputies were searching Orey’s neighborhood for a prowler. Someone in a ski mask reportedly had been seen in a driveway on Leigh Avenue.

Orey was at her home a few blocks away when she heard a noise outside, said her brother, James Morgan, who spoke with her in the hospital.

Thinking it might be her ex-husband returning home from work, a pajama-clad Orey went outside.

She told her brother she bumped into someone carrying a flashlight, and at some point identified herself as the homeowner.

The deputy’s gun, aimed at her chest “point blank,” went off as Orey turned to the side.

While we probably haven’t heard all of the details to this story yet, barring a surprising twist in the case, this certainly isn’t looking good for the Sheriff’s Department.