LOS ANGELES -- A female California Highway Patrol officer who was shot twice in the face and left for dead underwent surgery to ease her breathing, repair bullet wounds and set her broken jaw, officials said.
Officer Christina Manriquez was the first female CHP officer shot while on duty.
A spokeswoman at County-USC Medical Center said Miss Manriquez was in serious but stable condition.
'The surgery set her jaw by wiring it shut, and also made an artificial opening in the windpipe so she could breathe more comfortably,' a nursing supervisor said. 'Repair work on her throat wound was also done.'
She said Miss Manriquez has been awake and alert since the surgery Wednesday night.
Miss Manriquez, 23, a rookie officer who had been on the force only six months, was shot Tuesday night by the occupants of a stolen car she stopped in East Los Angeles.
She suffered bullet wounds in the jaw, possibly from her own service revolver, which was wrestled away from her during the struggle.
'She's considered in serious condition, but she's stable,' a hospital spokeswoman said.
Two men and a woman matching the description of the occupants in the car stopped by Ms. Manriquez were questioned Wednesday, then released.
Sheriff's Sgt. Merlyn Poppleton said three people were taken into custody in South Los Angeles early Wednesday and were 'questioned (in) regard to the shooting.'
'That doesn't necessarily implicate them, or mean that they are suspects in that shooting,' he added. They were released and their identities were not disclosed.
Three men and a woman -- who witnesses said was carrying a child - are suspected in the incident, which occurred when the officer pulled over a stolen white 1967 Toyota on suspicion of running a traffic light.
The officer spoke to the driver, returned to her CHP vehicle to get her citation book and then began struggling with the driver who had followed her back to her car, pushing her down onto the front seat a spokesman said.
'He jumped on her and they wrestled,' sheriff's homicide Lt. Robert O'Sullivan explained. 'They got into a struggle for her weapon as she radio officer needs help. Then he threw her down and got control of her and the gun. Then she was shot.'
A single bullet hit Miss Manriquez's right thumb and ricocheted off her arm, striking her in the right jaw.