LOS ANGELES (KTLA) – A woman and her two dogs were struck and killed by lightning Wednesday morning while walking along a Los Angeles-area riverbed, officials said.
Around 8:50 a.m., deputies responded to a call regarding a woman possibly struck by lightning along the San Gabriel River, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department told Nexstar’s KTLA.
The woman was found deceased in the pathway with both the dogs, city manager Steve Carmona said. Paramedics tried to perform CPR but authorities say they believe the death was instant.
“This was due to the result of a lightning strike,” Carmona said.
Neither the woman nor the dogs survived, the Sheriff’s Department said.
As of Wednesday morning, Carmona said the woman’s family had not yet been notified. The woman was a Pico Rivera resident in her 50s, officials said.
The incident occurred as an overnight summer storm that brought rain, thunder and lightning to much of Southern California amid an ongoing heat wave.
Area residents are being urged to stay indoors as a precaution.
Mary Perez, who lives near the riverbed, said she heard police cars zooming by in the morning.
“A little before that, it was thundering a lot,” she explained. “For about half an hour, it was pretty close. You could see it and hear it, very loud.”
Perez added that she’s scared now, and won’t let her daughter walk to school when there’s thunder anymore.