Mom Shoots, Kills Adult Son After Altercation Outside Her Home

TULSA, OKLAHOMA — A parent having to kill their own child is truly tragic. We’ve written about these kinds of incidents before, and it is always heartbreaking. In this case, police have not released the details of what caused the argument, but so far believe mom shot in self defense.

“It’s tragic for everybody all the way around,” said Lieutenant Brandon Watkins.

“They were just in an argument and she was actually in the process of calling 911,” said Watkins.

He said Barnett unexpectedly showed up at his mother’s house, causing an argument that Watkins said turned physical. “Her son lunged at her and she fired the gun,” said Watkins.

“We talked to her and decided to release her pending further investigation,” said Watkins. Watkins said evidence at the scene led them to the decision not to file charges.

Via NewsOn6

The Breakdown

Unfortunately, there is not a lot to go on. What we do know is that the 24 year old son does not live with mom. He showed up unexpectedly late in the morning at her house. The two then engaged in an argument in the driveway.

At some point during the argument, mom began to fear for her life and drew a firearm. This seems to have been done as a deterrent towards her son from taking any aggressive actions.

To put an end to the conflict, mom tries calling 911 for help. At this point the son goes on the attack and lunges at her. Mom, fearing for her safety, pulls the trigger and lands a shot in the upper torso of her son.

The Bad

We never like to see anyone die. In this case, doubly so as it must be emotionally devastating for mom. Of course, this isn’t bad in the sense that mom did something wrong. It’s bad because a parent had to shoot their own child in self defense; and that is just tragic.

After questioning mom and examining the evidence, police have released her and are not pressing charges. This would indicate that mom did what police believe to be reasonable actions. Without more details, its hard to know what other options mom might have had that would have guaranteed her safety in this situation.

The Good

The first good thing that mom did was know well enough to bring a firearm with her outside. She must have known that she was walking into a potentially dangerous situation. She didn’t take any chances and made sure she was armed just in case things got bad.

For mom, shooting her son was certainly not her preferred choice of outcomes. To end the escalating situation, mom tried to call 911 for help. Had she managed to get that call off with the police arriving in time, that would have been the preferred outcome for everyone involved.

Additionally, after mom shot her son, she immediately made that call to 911. She identified herself as the shooter and asked for help. As medical services were on their way, mom tried to save her son who was dying in the driveway.

For those involved in defensive shootings, it is imperative that you try and call the police once the threat has ended. Identifying yourself to 911 operators helps police know what to expect when they arrive. It also looks very favorable when police are considering the validity of your defensive gun use.

As mentioned earlier, the police interviewed mom thoroughly and decided to release her. They are satisfied that she did everything she could do, and was justified in the shooting.