In a courageous act of self-defense, an armed pregnant woman and her husband successfully defended themselves Tuesday evening against a violent assault outside a Texas gas station.
The incident, which was captured on surveillance video, unfolded around 5:25 p.m. in Houston, ABC News reported. The woman had parked her car in front of the store to deliver food to her husband, who was working there. But as soon as she stepped out of her vehicle, an individual wielding a firearm confronted her, per ABC. Both spouses asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, the outlet noted.
WARNING! GRAPHIC!
Texas: Yesterday, a male attempted to rob a pregnant woman
The lady was able to call her husband who was inside the gas station. The husband came out, and the suspect then began to make threats and he ran up on them armed. Both husband and wife were armed! pic.twitter.com/Vrp0LRftDT
— T (@Rifleman4WVU) June 29, 2023
“I got out of my car, and immediately, the guy in the passenger seat of the silver car got out with an AR and told me that I startled him. You know, he said it in a more vocal way,” the woman told the outlet. (RELATED: Suspect Arrested For Bizarre Break-In At Pierce Brosnan’s House, Allegedly Defecated In Neighbor’s Yard)
The husband then came outside in response to his wife’s call for help. The man with the rifle backed down, but the driver of the SUV, who was also armed and has been identified as 39-year-old Mario Duque, approached the couple and began behaving aggressively.
He repeatedly asked them, “Do you want to die tonight?” the husband told ABC News. Despite couple’s attempts to ignore him, surveillance footage captured Duque approaching the husband and pistol-whipping him.
The pregnant woman then retrieved a firearm from her bag and shot Duque. Her husband did the same, after which the two managed to hold the suspect at gunpoint until medical assistance arrived.
“Thank God we had our guns. I’ve never been happier to be a gun carrier,” the woman told ABC News.
Duque, a convicted felon prohibited from possessing firearms, has been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and unlawful carrying of a weapon.