A Texas mother has taken decisive action to protect her family after being confronted by a carjacker. The assailant jumped into the driver’s seat of her SUV at a Dallas petrol station Wednesday night. But the woman wasn’t going to let him get away that easily, especially as her kids were still in the back.
Demanding that he get out of her vehicle, the criminal refused and began to take off. So, the woman pulled her weapon and fired a shot at his face.
The woman’s sons, who are aged two and four, were not hurt in the incident, according to the BBC.
While the medical condition of the thief is currently unknown, the woman said she has a very clear message for him:
“I wish I would’ve killed you, if I didn’t already,” she told CBS Dallas.
The suspect was later identified as 36-year-old Rickey Wright, who has logged 21 previous arrests.
“I should have just have emptied the whole clip but I didn’t,” the woman, who has chosen to remain unidentified, explained to the outlet. “I didn’t. I just wanted to give him a warning shot that was it. I’m not a killer or anything like that, but I do believe in defending what’s mine.”
“I hope that woke him up,” she added.
The Texan explained how it was just a few hours earlier that she had placed her firearm in the glove box after her husband helped her reload it. “I told him that I needed some bullets for my gun and he told me that he was going to go get it,” she said.
Many Facebook users responded to the story with words of praise for the brave mother. “Thank goodness she had a way to defend her babies. We’d probably be reading a much different story today had she not been armed!” one person wrote. “You picked the wrong car, moron. Good for her,” another added.
“Good for her. She must have mad ninja skills to jump in, get the gun and shoot him. She and her kids survived and that’s all that matters! I bet she never leaves her kids in the car again. So thankful it worked out for her. I could only hope I would have been able to do the same.”
Wright has been charged with two counts of Unlawful Restraint and Unauthorized Use of Motor Vehicle. After being shot, he crashed into a light pole and was rushed to hospital with serious injuries.
Police questioned the woman at the scene of the shooting before deciding to let her go free. Authorities added that she is unlikely to face any criminal charges.