An adult son woke in Harris County Texas, this morning to the sound of his mother’s voice pleading with three armed intruders for the lives of the three young girls in the kitchen with her. He grabbed a firearm that he kept near his bed and did what he had to do to save his family:

Family members told deputies that their mother was in the kitchen cooking breakfast with three young granddaughters when the armed men broke in. The woman’s adult son heard the commotion from his bedroom and grabbed his gun.

“… and when he heard ‘please don’t hurt the girls,’ that’s when he took action,” deputies said.

The son wasted no time in shooting and killing one of the suspects.

“They were basically at a standoff, and he discharged first,” said Sgt. Felipe Rivera with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. “One of the suspects did fire inside the residence.”

There were eight people—seven family members and an employee of the family’s construction business—inside the home during the home invasion, and eight potential victims. All eight are alive today because of the adult son’s decision to fire upon the home invaders with his gun.

One of the suspects was dead at the scene, and the two surviving criminals fled.

All eight people inside the home are shaken, but not physically harmed.