A man is in custody, accused of shooting the mother of his three children in Plano before leaving with the children, police say..
Plano Police said at about 10:30 p.m. Monday a woman ran into a business on the 1700 block of Preston Road and told workers she had been shot by the father of their young children. She said the man, later identified as 29-year-old Timothy Young, left with their children in the car.
Plano Police, with the help of Frisco Police, began looking for the man and the children. As many as 70 officers were working on the case at some point during the investigation. Adding to the difficulty of this case, the officers worked through severe storms that rolled through North Texas Monday night.
"You have children that are with a legal guardian, but at the same time, they're hostages. At that point, we didn’t know what they are, we don't know what his state of mind is. He's already committed an act of violence and we were desperately looking for that vehicle,” said Officer Jennifer Chapman, public information officer for Plano Police.
Get top local stories in DFW delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC DFW's News Headlines newsletter.
Young was located and arrested about an hour after the shooting a few miles away on Preston Road and Legacy Drive. The children were in the car, unharmed.
"There wasn't a whole lot of movement, but they could hear a baby crying. They knew that at least one of the children was still OK,” said Chapman.
According to police, they were able to quickly and quietly apprehend Young before he could react.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
“It was quiet on our end and that was for tactical reasons because we wanted to make that approach where he wasn't able to make a decision. He was just going right into custody and we didn't want anything to come of that,” said Chapman.
Plano Police said the family is homeless and living out of their vehicle, which added to the difficulty in locating the man since they have no ties to Plano.
Police said the mother is recovering at the hospital in stable condition. Further details about her injuries or prognosis were not released.
Young was booked into Plano City Jail Tuesday morning with at least one charge of aggravated assault. It's not clear if he's obtained an attorney to speak on his behalf.
