A dad in Texas is making the news for defending his family from a carjacker in Garland. The whole incident unfolded quickly, with an unidentified man forcing his way into the car with eight relatives inside. In a matter of seconds, the dad jumped into action, fighting the man trying to steal his vehicle as family members got out of the car in fear. The would-be thief wasn’t deterred by the dad, however, and continued to try to steal the vehicle. So the dad was once again forced to make a split-second decision. He shot the attacker, killing him. However, he likely won’t face any charges because he was trying to keep his family safe.
You can see the incident for yourself.
The incident, which took place on May 3, 2026, was caught on surveillance video and shared by Fox 4 News. You can see the man approach the car and force his way into it. The dad, who has not been identified, had his driver’s side door open and was getting out of the car when the other man got into the driver’s seat and attempted to drive away.
As he got in, other members of the family began quickly leaving the car. You can see several children either scurrying out or being pulled by an adult. Every time the man tried to get back into the car, the dad would pull him out, but that didn’t appear to stop him.
Finally, the dad made his way to the passenger side door of the car. From there, he shot the man trying to steal it. The man was taken to the hospital, where he was declared dead.
One witness spoke about what she saw.
Tatiana Starks manages the Garland Smoke and Vape, which is in a shopping center near where the incident took place. She spoke with Fox 4 about what she witnessed that day.
“You could definitely tell that he was not in his right state of mind,” she said of the carjacker.
She said she saw the man breaking into multiple cars at a nearby gas station and decided to film him with her phone. “He like, tried to get into several different cars,” she told Fox 4.
Starks stopped filming when the man started walking across the street toward her. She said “he was walking very intentionally,” and they made eye contact. That’s when he ended up going into the car of the family who fought back.
According to Starks, the whole incident “happened like really fast.” She’s just grateful the incident had the outcome it did. “It’s just a blessing that the kids and the family walked away with no injuries,” she said.
This wasn’t his only attempt to take a vehicle, according to police.
Garland police told Fox 4 that the carjacker tried to steal several vehicles before his final attempt. As he arrived in the area where the family was parked, he crashed into two other cars.
“While we were responding to the scene, we received more information that the driver of that car had exited and immediately began physically trying to get into other vehicles in the parking lot,” Lt. Pedro Barineau said.
The dad who defended his family isn’t expected to face any charges, police said. At the time, he had no way of knowing if the other man was armed. According to police, they didn’t find any weapons on him, but he was definitely using force to get into other cars. “It seemed to be self-defense,” Barineau said, per Fox 4.
