Bullets pierced the front door of the Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church at East Creighton Avenue and Oliver Street Saturday evening, striking a woman in the arm inside as a baby shower was taking place.

A woman with her daughter on her hip stood outside shortly after the shooting at 6:15 p.m. to say that others attending the shower quickly tied a tourniquet around the injured woman's arm to stop the bleeding.

She was taken to the hospital in fair condition, according to a Fort Wayne police officer at the scene.

The officer called the shooting a drive-by and said shots came from the south. A police perimeter was set up outside a used car lot on Oliver Street a half-block down from the intersection. One officer carried a long gun with a scope while other officers picked up shell casings.

The woman who was shot was sitting in the third pew when the firing started, the woman said. At first, everyone at the shower thought it was a popped balloon until the injured woman cried out.

"Everyone just dropped to the floor," she said.

A man who identified the pregnant woman as his sister stood outside the small white church as police walked the neighborhood searching for witnesses or other evidence.

"Did you guys not see four guys running?" he asked them, pointing to the area where the shell casings were. The church's back door on Oliver Street hung open. He described the shooting as "random shots."

"I just want to see who did it," he said.

The friend said there was no animosity between the pregnant woman and the father of her child, even though they are no longer a couple. If someone was trying to send a message, she said she didn't understand what the message was.

"Who would shoot someone at a baby shower?" one older man asked as he stood on the other side of the street.

"Who would shoot someone in a church?" another man responded.

No suspects were arrested, and the shooting remains under investigation. Anyone with any information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 436-7867.

jduffy@jg.net