Law enforcement officials in Texas are praising a good Samaritan who gunned down his neighbor who had shot his own mother.
According to Newsweek, the incident took place early Tuesday in the Highland Cross area of northern Harris County in which a 22-year-old man, for reasons unknown, opened fire on his 58-year-old mother, leaving her with gunshot wounds.
The man has not been identified.
Neighbors told ABC 13 News that a dispute may have occurred between the two at a Fourth of July cookout earlier in the night after the son began acting strange. Investigators with the Harris County Sheriff's Office believe the two later returned to the mother's apartment, where an argument turned physical, leaving the mother bleeding from the face.
At about 12:45 a.m., shots were heard from the apartment as the son opened fire on his mother, according to investigators. The woman then fled the apartment, getting the attention of a neighbor, who retrieved his own gun. At this point, investigators believe the son and neighbor exchanged fire.
But soon after the son found his mother hiding behind a tree where he allegedly shot her at point-blank range, the neighbor caught up to the son and shot him to death. Harris County sheriff's deputies report they found two weapons near the body: a pistol and a semi-automatic rifle.
The mother was rushed to a hospital for treatment. ABC 13 reported that she is expected to recover after having surgery.
"The way the suspect was just firing indiscriminately, just point-blank shot the mother apparently as he stood over her, was a dangerous individual that likely could have continued shooting. He was already shooting. He damaged not only his apartment but the neighbors'," Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said.
"The neighbors are shaken up because a 16-year-old daughter was sitting at the table where the shots rang out into the main living area. Another apartment was also shot up. Thankfully, that owner, we're told, was away from the apartment at the time."
Gonzalez said that the case will be taken to a grand jury, which will decide what charges, if any, will be filed against the neighbor.
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