Good Samaritan shoots suspect defending beaten woman

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - A bloody and battered woman cries for help. Fortunately a neighbor is there to dial 911 and fight off her attacker, a man who police later identified as her husband.

"I told him three times to get off my property," explained the homeowner on Meadow Court in the West Birmingham community of Green Acres. He asked that we not use his name.

The woman yelled for him to call police Tuesday afternoon. She was clearly injured. Minutes later the homeowner says the suspect came up, grabbed a landscaping brick and made threats.

The neighbor says he first fired a warning shot. Then the suspect put the brick above his head and made more threats. "He was hollering shoot me so I shot him in the arm. He dropped the block and came at me and said I'm gonna kill you so I shot him one more time," explained the neighbor.

Another lady who lives down the street saw the whole thing from her front yard. "He had no choice he was protecting him home," says Jasmine Sawyer. She described the woman's condition. "She was pretty bloody and her mouth was busted. There were scars around her neck where he had strangled her. It was sad," said Sawyer.

After he was shot twice, the suspect retreated. Police found him at a nearby school and he was taken to the hospital.

"We are glad the homeowner was able to intervene. You had a good samaritan intervene and everything turned out okay," said Lt. Sean Edwards with Birmingham PD. Lt. Edwards said his action likely saved the woman's life.

Wednesday afternoon Tony Jackson was charged with domestic violence strangulation. He is being held on a $25,000 bond.

As for the good samaritan, he says don't call him a hero. "I was raised to help people that's what I do. I'm not going to stand by and watch something happen."