ORINDA — A school board member is in stable condition after she was shot and her husband pistol-whipped in their driveway by suspects wearing Halloween masks on Monday night, authorities said.

Orinda Union school board Vice President Carol Brown and her husband, Tom Spalding, were returning home from a shopping trip when they were attacked outside their home, officials said.

“Carol was shot twice, but thankfully is being treated and is in stable condition at an area hospital,” according to a statement Tuesday from the Orinda Union School District.

At 9:09 p.m. Monday, officers responded to a medical call at a home in the first block of Claremont Avenue, according to a statement from Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Jimmy Lee.

Officers found Brown suffering from gunshot wounds and Spalding, who had been pistol-whipped.

The suspects fled on foot with a purse, wallet and cellphone. A search of the area with a police K-9 and a helicopter failed to find them, police said.

Brown was taken to John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek, where she was listed in stable condition on Tuesday, while Spalding was treated and released, Orinda police Chief Mark Nagel said.

“She’s stable, awake and alert and making phone calls, certainly doing better than expected,” Nagel said. “He suffered some lacerations and cuts.”

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Investigators are looking at whether the couple was followed from either the BART station or a grocery store they visited beforehand.

“We have nothing really confirmed, but it’s an obvious possibility,” Nagel said. “One scenario is that they were followed or targeted. We don’t want to eliminate the possibility of familiarity with the family. We’ll know more after a number of interviews.”

He advised residents to be alert.

“People should try to be as vigilant of their surroundings, but you can’t work at that level 24/7,” Nagel said. “You don’t expect that near your home, where you should be allowed to let your guard down.”

Nagel said no surveillance footage has turned up with any signs of possible suspects.

At the family’s Claremont Avenue home Tuesday afternoon, Brown’s son Micah Spalding, a 22-year-old Diablo Valley College student, said he had been home Monday night working on music in the house’s lower level when he heard a car pull up and realized his parents were home. Then he heard a noise, followed by his father yelling out before coming into the house.

“He gave the gunman his wallet, and shortly after, he was hit with the gun, pistol-whipped in the face,” Spalding said. “Then he stumbled inside to try to call 911, and my mom was shot twice. And then I ran outside and saw everything and called the cops. I didn’t see the suspects. I was just trying to get my mom help.”

Micah Spalding said he hoped his neighbors will be more observant of their surroundings.

The attack on their school board member stunned the Orinda Union School District.

“It is hard to believe this violent act took place in our peaceful community,” Superintendent Carolyn Seaton said in a statement sent to the community. “At this time, we ask the Orinda community to join us in offering her family their full support and well wishes.”

Anyone with information should call Orinda police at 925-254-6820, email tips@so.cccounty.us or call 866-846-3592 to leave an anonymous voicemail.

Staff writer Katrina Cameron contributed to this report. Contact George Kelly at 408-859-5180.