Posted on June 7, 2017

“Our Guardian Angel:” Family Thanks Neighbor Who Shot Father Trying to Drown Babies

CBS News, June 6, 2017

Family is thanking a neighbor who shot a father who was trying to drown his infant 3-month-old twin son and daughter in southeastern Oklahoma Friday.

City of Ada spokeswoman Lisa Bratcher told reporters that 27-year-old Leland Foster of Poteau died after being shot Friday after a 12-year-old relative ran from the home to the neighbor for help.

Leland Foster

Leland Foster

Bratcher said the neighbor told police he went to the home armed with a handgun and shot Foster twice after seeing him holding the infants under water in a bathtub while threatening the children’s mother with a knife.

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The mother, Michelle Sorrells, told CBS affiliate KXII Foster forced himself inside her stepfather’s home after the two got in an argument. She says she believes Foster “snapped.”

Michelle Sorrells

Michelle Sorrells (Credit Image: News 12)

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Sorrells said Foster tried to drown her babies in the bathtub. When Sorrells tried to fight back, she said Foster hit and choked her multiple times.

“I remember thinking, ‘I’ve got to keep hitting him…I’ve got to get back to the babies because he turned them face down in the water again and they’re going to drown,'” she said.

That’s when she said she heard two loud pops and realized her neighbor had shot Foster.

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Cash Freeman

Cash Freeman