(CNN) Police were searching Thursday for whoever shot and wounded a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy from a distance, a day after the shooting happened.

Someone fired a gun at Deputy Angel Reinosa on Wednesday afternoon while he was walking to his personal car outside the sheriff's station in Lancaster, about an hour's drive north of Los Angeles, police said.

The sheriff's department said "this was an isolated incident targeting a deputy."

The bullet apparently came from a four-story apartment building across the street, and hit Reinosa, Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris said. Reinosa was wearing a bulletproof vest, which saved his life by deflecting the bullet into his shoulder, the mayor explained.

Reinosa, 21, was taken to hospital, where he was treated for a minor wound and released, sheriff's Capt. Todd Weber said. Authorities say he was hit in the right shoulder.

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