When an armed teen pointed his gun at a man’s children in a Texas Popeyes, the protective father defended his kids, shooting the criminal dead. Now, the deceased teen’s mother acknowledges her son’s criminal activity, however, put the blame on the father who killed her son.
Cynthia Ruiz, a widow, and a single mother said she collapsed when San Antonio police notified her the next day that her 19-year-old son, Andrew Herrera, had been shot and killed during an attempted robbery.
The botched robbery happened on Dec. 7 at a Popeyes Chicken in the 800 block of Southeast Military Drive. Herrera reportedly pointed a gun at a customer’s children, and that customer — a licensed concealed carrier — shot the gunman dead.
“Did my son deserve to be punished? Yes, he did,” Ruiz said.
According to reports, the dad asked the gunman if his family could leave, and when the robber agreed, the mom and two of their children exited the restaurant — but two of the family’s other children were still in the restroom.
But when the robber saw the two children walk out of the restroom and pointed his gun at them, Dad fired his own gun and killed the robber.
Ruiz said a second suspect — the alleged getaway driver told her that her son’s gun “wasn’t even loaded,” KSAT reported, adding that police wouldn’t confirm the claim.
Ruiz also told the station that her son had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder as a child and with schizophrenia in 2016. Three weeks before the shooting Herrera stopped taking his medications, Ruiz told KSAT.
The dad had a license to carry a concealed weapon and was trained to use it in situations like this.
“Here in Texas, if you’re in fear of loss of life, loss of property, you have a right to defend yourself,” a police spokesperson said.
The incident proves that there is no way of knowing a person’s intentions when they point a gun at you and that the best way to defend yourself and your loved ones is to legally arm yourself. While we can sympathize with this mother’s tragic loss of her child, it is solely a consequence of his choices alone.
Finally, to answer her burning question as to why the man shot her son 5 times instead of just once, it was the only way to ensure that the threat to his own children was neutralized.
