DALLAS — Four-year-old Ruben and his twin brother Goyo played inside an ambulance at the Colonial Tepeyac apartment complex in West Dallas after surviving a standoff that lasted nearly three hours.
Dozens of officers — including the SWAT team — swarmed the complex in the 5800 block of Bernal Drive around 4 o'clock Sunday afternoon.
The boys were inside an apartment, being held by their own father.
Police said the man barricaded himself with the boys after shooting their mother, 32-year-old Maria Martinez.
"When I was coming out of the apartment, I heard the gunshots... like maybe five or six gunshots," said neighbor Sylvia Contreras.
"We had a female who was shot six times in the back," said Dallas police spokeswoman Senior Cpl. Melinda Gutierrez.
Relatives said Martinez staggered to her mother's house after the shooting to call for help.
Paramedics rushed Martinez to Methodist Dallas Medical Center for surgery; her relatives were left waiting and wondering if she will ever see her boys again.
The unnamed suspect surrendered without incident about three hours after the shooting. He was taken into custody for questioning.
"The boys have been checked out and they are in good condition," Gutierrez said.
E-mail mdiaz@wfaa.com
