A woman was pistol-whipped and robbed in St. Paul on Monday afternoon while her 2-year-old son was nearby, according to police.

Officers were called to the Frogtown area at 2:20 p.m., after the 42-year-old pulled into a parking lot near a church to make a cellphone call.

She realized a group of six to eight males, who appeared to be juveniles, had surrounded her vehicle in the lot at Mackubin Street and Charles Avenue, said Sgt. Mike Ernster, a St. Paul police spokesman.

A male, who was holding a handgun, opened the driver’s door and the woman told an officer she was surprised and scared. She said she fought with the suspect outside of her driver’s door to prevent the males from taking her vehicle or hurting her son, who was in the back seat, according to Ernster.

The male pointed the gun in her face and said several things to her, but she didn’t know what he was saying because she doesn’t understand English, Ernster said. He then struck her in the side of the face with the gun, leaving her with a large bruise.

The woman reported the males ran and bicycled away, and she saw her purse was missing from the front seat of her vehicle.

Someone found the woman’s purse a couple of blocks away at Edmund Avenue and Kent Street. Her wallet was gone.

No one has been arrested. The woman wasn’t able to provide detailed descriptions of the males because she said it happened too fast, according to Ernster.