AUSTIN, Texas — A man is facing a burglary charge, after the Travis County Sheriff’s Office said he shot his way into a Steiner Ranch apartment on Sunday.

Man risks life to subdue shooter

Wrestled him to the ground to get gun

Suspect now in custody

There were people inside the complex at the time, but no one was shot. Authorities admit the situation could have ended differently, if those involved did not intervene.

Suspect Britt Howe is currently in custody at the Travis County Jail. He is facing a charge of burglary with intent to commit a felony. A Sheriff’s Office spokesperson said he forced his mother at gunpoint to drive to his ex-wife’s apartment at the Meritage apartment complex on Steiner Ranch Boulevard.

“Upon arriving at that apartment. He forced his mother to knock on the front door. When she did that, one of the occupants of the apartment opened the door, she immediately ran inside and locked the door and warned them that they were in danger,” said Kristen Dark, senior public information officer for the Travis County Sheriff’s Office.

One of the people inside was 38-year-old Ryan Wells, a friend of the family.

“I heard a loud bang. I wasn't quite sure what it was, fireworks or an explosion. Then I heard a second bang, and I knew it was gunshots. I heard a third and fourth bang and heard all the girls screaming,” Wells said.

Several people ran to the third floor of the apartment and were able to escape by jumping out of the balcony and landing on a second floor roof. They then climbed onto a second floor balcony, where the neighbors let them in to call authorities.

Meanwhile, Wells stayed behind, because he said he “knew that somebody needed to be between him and them.” Wells confronted the gunman, who fired multiple shots and forced his way inside the apartment.

"I did the best that I could, even knowing that it could cost me my life,” said Ryan Wells.

“All I could think to do is reach up and grab the bolt of the rifle, and eject the shell casing and as my hand got to the bolt, he pulled the trigger,” Wells said. “I grabbed the rifle, hooked his leg, shoved backwards, shoved him to the ground. We wrestled for the rifle.”

Wells, who has had training in martial arts, subdued the gunman long enough until Travis County deputies arrived. A day after the incident, Wells said he is sore and remembers how fast his heart was racing.

“There comes a point everybody's life where you're going to have to make decisions that are going to require sacrifices,” Wells said. “I’ve always felt like, it's my job to kind of protect people that can't protect themselves. This is just a situation where I knew if I didn't intervene, that it was going to be really bad. I did the best that I could, even knowing that it could cost me my life.”

While Travis County Sheriff’s Office officials said they cannot condone intervening in incidents, they are commending the efforts of those involved.

“I'm not going to say definitively one way of the other, because every situation is different, but what I will say is, were it not for the actions of the mother and the other occupant in the apartment, this could have been a very, very tragic scene,” Dark said.