Brother of teen girl caught in crossfire speaking out on domestic violence dispute

PEORIA, Ariz. (KSAZ) - The brother of a teen girl who was caught in the crossfire of a violent family confrontation is speaking out.

On Monday evening, August 7, 2017, a woman was trying to get away from her estranged husband when he showed up with a gun. Eventually, he started shooting.

Multiple children were around, and the one teen girl that ended up getting hit is thankfully, now out of the hospital.

But when Jacob Riggan, who lives out of state, called his mom to catch up, that's when he heard the news.

"I called my mom Monday evening and that's when she answered the phone frantically crying. 'Emily has been shot, I'm at the hospital, I will call you back,'" Riggan said.

His younger sister, 14-year-old Emily, who was just days away from heading to high school, was shot in the chest.

"I was shocked. I didn't know the details of what had happened. I know the neighborhood they lived in was a pretty peaceful neighborhood," Riggan said.

Police say gunfire was exchanged between two men, and that's when Emily was caught in the middle of it; she was protecting her younger cousins from any danger.

"Emily was shot while shielding those three kids. She saw the exchange of gunfire and immediately corralled the kids behind her to protect him," Riggan said.

She was airlifted to the hospital for emergency surgery and is now home recovering after the bullet damaged her lung and broke three ribs.

"After talking to all the doctors down there, they cannot believe that her recovery has been so fast," Riggan said.

Riggan said one of his cousins arrived on scene and shot at the suspect in order to stop him. The suspect was hit, but is ok. He was arrested and remains in jail Saturday evening.

If you would like to help this family, please visit their GoFundMe page.