Michelle Booker-Hicks was at a gas station in Dallas, Texas, on Wednesday, July 4, when a man jumped into her car and attempted to drive it away. She was paying for gas when the carjacker got into the front seat of the vehicle. Booker-Hicks’ two young children were in the back seat of the car during the frightening ordeal, causing her to quickly jump into action.
Booker-Hicks saw the man get into the driver’s seat and ran to the car, able to get into the back seat where her two sons were buckled in. Determined to protect her children, she told Fox 4 that she asked the man to get out of her car, but he refused. That’s when she says she reached for the gun that she had kept in her glove compartment.
“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,” Booker-Hicks told Fox 4.
Booker-Hicks shot the man in the face, causing him to lose control of the vehicle. The SUV came to a stop after crashing into a fence at a nearby McDonald’s. The suspect was able to get himself out of the car, but had collapsed in a parking lot by the time police had arrived.
Booker-Hicks went on to say that she only fired one shot, but that she would have shot the man repeatedly to protect her family. She also said that she had just recently purchased a gun to keep in her car — which is legal in Texas, even without a gun license.
“I’m not a killer but I do believe in defending what’s mine. I hope that woke him up,” she told Fox 4. Thankfully, she and her two children, ages 4 and 2, were not injured.
She spoke with Fox 4, but asked that the outlet not show her face. You can watch her interview with the station in the video below.
After the incident, police identified the suspect as Ricky Wright. He is currently in the hospital, and is listed in serious but stable condition. According to WSFA, he has been charged with two counts of unlawful and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.
“Court records show he has a long list of charges including assault and family violence, arson, theft, making a terroristic threat, resisting arrest, and drug charges,” Fox 4 reports.
