Not long after authorities sayshe shot a man who was trying to drive away in her vehiclewith her two young children inside, Texas mom Michelle Booker-Hicks told local media she’s “not a killer” — “but I do believe in defending what’s mine.”
“It happened so fast,” sherecalled to local station KXAS. “Not even five minutes, not even five minutes. It happened so fast!”
According to Dallas police, the altercation occurred late on the Fourth of July when the suspect, reportedly identified as 36-year-old Rickey Wright, allegedly “jumped inside” Booker-Hicks’ vehicle at a gas station in Duncanville just after 10 p.m.
She had just gone inside when a man got into her vehicle and started driving away, according to KXAS.
“I seen my two babies still back there,” Booker-Hicks told the station. “I’m asking the man, ‘Hey, my kids are back here. Stop! Pull over! Pull over!’ He’s not even acknowledging anything about my kids.”
When the suspect failed to stop the vehicle, Booker-Hicks drew a gun from her glove box and shot him once in the head, Dallas police Maj. Paul Junger told reporters last week.
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Dallas Police Department
Booker-Hicks remembered the shooting this way to KDFW: “I proceeded to jump in my backseat and told the gentleman to stop, to get out the car. He would not get out of the car. He turned around and looked at me. I reached over the armrest to get my glove compartment and that’s when I fired at him once I got the gun from my glove compartment.”
The vehicle crashed into a telephone police and the suspect was later hospitalized in stable condition, Junger said.
Booker-Hicks and her children, reportedly described as a 2-year-old and 4-year-old, were not harmed.
While Junger said last week police were considering charging Wright with kidnapping, he was subsequently booked into the county jail on a charge of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle,theDallas Morning Newsreports. He is also charged with two counts of abandoning/endangering child criminal neglect, according to police.
“I had to do what I had to do to defend what was mine, which are my kids,” Booker-Hicks said, according to theMorning News.
She told KDFW the gunfire was meant as a warning.
“I’m not a killer or anything, but I do believe in defending what’s mine,” she said. “I hope that woke him up.”
It was unclear Monday if Wright has retained an attorney. He remains hospitalized, police say. PEOPLE’s efforts to reach him and Booker-Hicks were unsuccessful.
source: people.com
