Authorities in Texas say a local woman shot a man in his head after he stole her car at a gas station in Dallas this week with her two young children in the backseat.

According to KDFW,, Michelle Booker-Hicks was at the Shell station on Interstate 35 at around 10 p.m. on Wednesday.

She told reporters that she witnessed a man force his way into her car when she got out. With her 2- and 4-year-old sons in the rear seat, she leaped inside to grab the firearm she kept in the glove box.

“I proceeded to jump in my backseat and told the gentleman to stop, to get out the car,” Booker-Hicks said. “He would not get out of the car. He turned around and looked at me.”

At that point, she said she reached into the front of the cabin.

“And that’s when I fired at him once I got the gun from my glove compartment,” she said.

She reportedly struck the suspect in his face, causing him to crash the vehicle a short distance away, according to Access News 24.

The pistol-packing mom said she and her children escaped without serious injury, which was her only concern.

“I wasn’t necessarily worried about my car,” she said. “I was more worried about my kids.”

After the incident, authorities arrested 36-year-old Ricky Wright, who they said had collapsed in the street with a gunshot wound under his right eye.

He was transported in police custody to an area hospital for treatment.

Though Booker-Hicks said she initially intended only to fire a warning shot, she did not appear too upset with the result. She indicated that she had purchased the gun for self-defense only hours before using it.

“I’m not a killer or anything, but I do believe in defending what’s mine,” she said. “I hope that woke him up.”

The suspect is expected to face charges including two counts of unlawful restraint and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.

[Featured image: Rickey Wright, Dallas Police Department]