The glorious concept of FAFO played out yet again this past Sunday in Garland, Texas. While Sunday afternoons aren’t supposed to turn violent, lunatics and criminals don’t schedule their attacks. One of those deranged lunatics turned a quiet family outing into his own personal demolition derby—and paid the ultimate price for his stupidity.
The “gentleman” in the peach shirt had already slammed a green sedan into two other vehicles nearby, then stumbled out like a man possessed. Not content with totaling ride #1, he launched a one-man crime spree, yanking door handles of other vehicles, trying to wrest doors open to steal a new set of wheels.
A witness named Tatiana Starks watched as he bounced from car to car, clearly “not in his right mind,” as she put it. He was on a mission: steal another ride at any cost, even if it meant terrorizing innocents and hurting or killing anyone in his way.
Then the idiot made a crucial error in victim selection. He zeroed in on the white Chevy sedan with a family inside. The lunatic tried to lunge his way in, shoving and grappling like a rabid raccoon fighting with an opossum over the last trash can. Mr. Peach clambered into the driver’s seat, determined to peel out with members of the entire family still inside. Security video shows the chaotic struggle: kids screaming, the madman thrashing and the father, gun in hand, battling to keep his loved ones safe.
But papa bear wasn’t having it. He fought back tooth and nail, clearly trying to avoid killing his attacker. He also bought precious seconds for family members to scramble clear.
Eventually, dad ended the threat with a single shot. Lights out. Game over, pal.
Garland police reviewed surveillance footage and witness accounts and reached an obvious conclusion. They called it a case of self-defense. While they couldn’t give dad a key to the city, they praised his efforts to protect his family. He violated the cardinal rule about “never talk with the police,” but this was so open and shut, even a red-shirted Shannon Watts would probably call it clear-cut self-defense. Well, maybe not.
Anyway, his family walked away unharmed, thanks to a hero who refused to let a deranged maniac turn their Sunday drive into a nightmare.
In a world full of shrinking violets, thank goodness for dads like this one—steady, decisive, and ready to defend what matters most.
Police say the man tried to steal several vehicles by force yesterday afternoon, before trying this one near Highway 66 and Dairy Road.
What we know: A majority of the family members were inside the car when a carjacker tried to steal it. The carjacker was shot and killed by the father during a struggle captured on video.
Surveillance video shows a man attacking and trying to carjack a family of eight in Garland on Sunday afternoon, before the father shoots and kills him.