25-year-old Thomas McNulty was having an argument with his girlfriend, 22-year-old Jessica Rusk, on Sunday, June 4 when he pulled out a gun and shot her in the back. Her father, 57-year-old Floyd Rusk, then immediately shot McNulty several times, killing him. Rusk’s mother then called 911 to report the 4:30 a.m. incident.

Daughter stable and recovering in hospital

WSOC quotes Hall County Sheriff’s Lt. Scott Ware as saying on Monday that investigators responded to the home in Hall County at 4:30 a.m. Sunday, where they found Jessica with a shotgun wound in her back.

Rusk was then taken to the Northeast Georgia Medical Center where she was said to be in a stable condition and is expected to fully recover from her injuries.

11 Alive Atlanta quotes Ware as saying that obviously, violence should always be the last resort and if it is possible to avoid violence and call 911, officials would obviously prefer that, adding that this would be the best case scenario. Authorities have currently filed no charges against the father, saying it appeared he was defending his daughter, although the case is still to be reviewed by the District Attorney.

Daughter’s boyfriend had been in trouble with guns before

The New York Post reports that this isn’t the first incident involving McNulty and guns. He had recently been let go from his job as an IT contractor for breaking company policy. His employer, Scott Corathers had told Channel 2 Action News that McNulty had brought a gun to work with him after only being on the job for a week.

McNulty reportedly told his boss he was sorry and that he had forgotten the gun was in his pocket.

Neighbors stand with Rusk over killing his daughter’s boyfriend

The New York Post quotes the Rusks’ neighbor, Sabrena Kapetanis, as saying she didn’t blame Rusk for taking this action to defend his daughter. She did say she could hardly believe it had happened and that the killing will haunt Rusk in the future.

One neighbor said no ambulance would be required if it happened to their daughter

11 Alive said neighbors they interviewed while saying it was a sad incident to happen, said they would have done exactly the same thing as Rusk did. One unnamed neighbor was quoted in their video report as saying if it happened to them and someone hurt their daughter, they are gun owners and would have done the same thing, adding that their daughter's attacker wouldn’t have needed an ambulance.
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