A transgender woman was shot in a reported home invasion in South East Lake this morning.

The shooting happened at 10:05 a.m. in the 7500 block of Fifth Avenue South.

Birmingham police Sgt. B. Stringfellow said the victim was shot in the face. The victim was awake but not responsive, and rushed to UAB Hospital.

The victim's boyfriend arrived home shortly after the robbery and shooting. "(The victim) was able to say it was a home invasion and the suspect possibly left in a white truck," the sergeant said.

The victim's boyfriend, Darius Foster, said he arrived home from the store to find his 24-year-old girlfriend on the front porch. "She came out on the porch screaming 'Help me,''' Foster said. "It was bad. There was nothing pretty about it."

Foster said the assailant was still at the scene. He said he banged on the window of the white truck he was in and said he sped off toward Oporto-Madrid Boulevard.

Foster said cash and debit cards were missing from her wallet. He also said he believes the suspect is the same person who robbed another friend of theirs at a Homewood motel. He said a gun was stolen in that incident, and he believed that gun was used to shoot his girlfriend today.

Birmingham police spokesman Lt. Sean Edwards said only that the incident is under investigation and detectives are trying to sort out what led to the shooting.

Police said the shooting could be linked to the slaying of a transgender woman killed at a Birmingham motel. Police in that case identified the victim as a male, but family members said she was a transgender woman.