Police: Man shot in Arlington while breaking into a car

A man accused of throwing rocks at a car in Arlington was shot by the car’s owner late Tuesday, police said.

The man was trying to break the windshield and the driver’s side window in the parking lot of the Pavilion Apartments in the 3500 block of Willowood Circle, police Sgt. Paul Rodriguez said.

The owner stepped out of the car and confronted the man, who stopped throwing rocks and started trying to beat up the owner. At that point, the owner shot the man in the “lower extremities,” Rodriguez said.

A short time later, the shooter’s mother called Arlington police and said her son had acted in self-defense. By then, the son had driven to the parking lot of a Gander Mountain outdoors store near Interstate 20 and Collins Street, police said.

“I’m sure he was frazzled and wanted to get out of there,” Rodriguez said.

At the scene, the shot man “wasn’t real cooperative” with officers and was taken to a hospital, where he was recovering Wednesday, police spokesman Chris Cook said.

Rodriguez said Arlington investigators talked to witnesses and determined that the shooter did act in self-defense. Still, the evidence will be presented to the district attorney’s office before a final decision is made on whether to pursue charges.

The wounded man could still be arrested for starting the incident, Rodriguez said.

This story was originally published September 30, 2015 at 9:37 AM with the headline "Police: Man shot in Arlington while breaking into a car."