Dad Shot in the Face While Protecting Young Daughter from Robber: 'I'd Do It Again in a Heartbeat'
On Friday morning, Parkland, Washington, resident Matthew Phillips was on his way to drop off his young daughter at daycare. Abruptly, his plans for the morning were shattered. It was about 6 a.m. when Phillips rounded…
On Friday morning, Parkland, Washington, resident Matthew Phillips was on his way to drop off his young daughter at daycare. Abruptly, his plans for the morning were shattered.
It was about 6 a.m. when Phillips rounded drove around a neighborhood corner and a young man, armed with a rifle, approached him. He aimed the rifle at the back window.
“As soon as I took this corner, he came out from the back of this RV and was held — holding a rifle to the back window, which is where my daughter was sitting,” he told KIRO-TV in Seattle.
The robber demanded money and Phillips’ truck, and approached the driver’s side.
As soon as he was close enough, Phillips wrenched the gun away from the man and tried to drive away. But the gunman reappeared with another gun and told Phillips to stay put.
“And by the time I had it in gear, he was in front of me,” Phillips said. “He told me to stop. I put it in reverse, he fired at the truck. Three rounds. One hit me and I took one to the mouth.”
The bullet ricocheted, hitting Phillips in the mouth, leaving him with gashes in his lip and tongue and taking out several teeth. But it didn’t stop him. It only made him more insistent on stopping the attacker and protecting his little girl.
“All I could think of was my daughter,” he said. “You’re not getting up. You’re not taking this gun.”
Phillips once again attacked the robber, pinning him to the ground and calling the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department, according to another KIRO