Mom shoots carjacker in the head to save kids inside stolen vehicle

Josh Hafner | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Mom shoots carjacker in the head to save kids inside stolen vehicle A woman pulled a gun from her glove compartment and shot a carjacker in the head in North Texas.

A woman pulled a gun from her glove compartment and shot a carjacker in the head as he drove away in her SUV with her and her two toddlers inside in North Texas.

The incident took place late Wednesday night at a Dallas-area Shell Station, police said, when the suspect, identified as 36-year-old Rickey Wright, approached the vehicle. The mother, Michelle Booker-Hicks, was out of the car paying for gas while her 2- and 4-year old sons sat in the vehicle's back seats, Dallas' Fox 4 reported.

Before she returned from the store, the mother saw a man enter her vehicle and attempt to flee, per CBS 11. But before he drove away, the mother jumped into the back of the car herself.

Booker-Hicks told the man to stop, she told Fox 4, before reaching over to the vehicle's glove compartment and retrieving the gun inside. She fired a single shot to his face, she said.

“I’m not a killer, but I do believe in defending what’s mine,” she told Fox 4. “I hope that woke him up.”

Wright then drove the vehicle off the road, crashing into a utility pole, police said. He was in stable but serious condition Thursday morning, CBS 11 reported, while the mother and two children were unharmed.

Wright was charged with unlawful restraint and unauthorized use of motor vehicle.

Contributing: WFAA-TV, Dallas-Fort Worth