An Oklahoma man who was trying to drown his twin 3-month-old children was shot and killed by a neighbor Friday, police said.

City of Ada spokeswoman Lisa Bratcher told reporters that Leland Foster, 27, of Poteau, died from gunshot wounds after a 12-year-old girl ran from the home and alerted a neighbor for help.

Bratcher said the neighbor, identified as Cash Freeman, told police he went to the home armed with a handgun and shot Foster twice after seeing him holding the infants under water in a bathtub while threatening the children’s mother with a knife.

According to KFOR-TV, Freeman shot Foster twice in the back.

Bratcher said the children were taken to the hospital in stable condition and the neighbor was questioned and released by police.

Freeman told KFOR-TV he felt he did the right thing, but was worried he may be in trouble. The district attorney’s office will decide whether the killing was justified and if Freeman will face charges.

Foster had been charged in 2011 with domestic abuse by strangulation and arson, KFOR-TV reported.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.