A 30-year-old illegal alien from Mexico named Jose Ramirez decided to go on a one-man crime spree in Garland, Texas, last Sunday — crashing his green vehicle into two cars on Highway 66, then trying to carjack multiple vehicles at a gas station — before finally picking the absolute worst target in the parking lot: a white Impala with a Texas father and his family of eight inside, including a baby. Ramirez yanked the dad out of the driver’s side. The dad grabbed his gun and shot him dead.

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. Or in this case, play stupid games in Texas and win a permanent dirt nap.

The incident happened around 3:30 p.m. on May 3rd near Highway 66 and Dairy Road in Garland. According to Blaze News, Ramirez first crashed into two vehicles, then ran to a nearby gas station where he attempted to “take several vehicles by force.” Every single one of those carjacking attempts failed. So naturally, like the criminal genius he was, Ramirez crossed the road to a convenience store parking lot and went after the Impala.

Here’s where the story gets very Texas, very fast. The father was sitting in that Impala with seven other family members — children included. Ramirez physically attacked him and tried to force his way into the driver’s seat. A small child was seen running from the back seat during the struggle. The dad managed to get to the passenger side and fire his weapon. Ramirez was hit and later pronounced dead at the hospital.

Garland Police Lt. Pedro Barineau told reporters, “As right now we’re looking at this as self-defense. We have to look at the totality of the circumstances; there are three incidents total that occurred during this shooting.” No charges have been filed against the father, and police don’t expect any. The dad stayed at the scene and fully cooperated with investigators.

Because that’s what law-abiding gun owners do. They protect their families and then they cooperate. They don’t flee. They don’t lawyer up before the body’s cold. They stand there and explain exactly what happened.

Now here’s the part that makes this story a three-layer cake of conservative vindication. Ramirez was confirmed to be an illegal alien — a Mexican national who was not a U.S. citizen and was not even a Garland resident. So we’ve got an armed Texan defending his family, a dead carjacker who never should have been in this country in the first place, and a police department that’s calling it exactly what it is: self-defense.

Witness Tatiana Starks, who manages the nearby Garland Smoke and Vape shop, watched the whole thing unfold. “You could definitely tell that he was not in his right state of mind,” Starks said. “I’m just glad that the man was able to protect himself and his family.”

Another witness, Taylor Stanfield, put it in terms every parent in America understands: “It’s definitely very concerning. My kids are playing outside all the time…if somebody like this were able to drive away in that vehicle, who knows what could have happened.”

Exactly. Who knows what could have happened if that father hadn’t been armed. Who knows what happens to those kids — that baby — if dad was just another defenseless victim in a blue state where they’d rather you call 911 and wait twelve minutes for help while a violent criminal drags your children out of the car.

But this is Texas. And in Texas, we don’t wait for permission to protect our families.

The left will ignore this story. They have to. It breaks every single one of their narratives at the same time. Guns saved lives. An illegal alien committed a violent crime. A father used lethal force and the police said “good shoot.” There’s no angle for them here — no way to spin a dead illegal carjacker into a gun control argument without also admitting the border is a disaster.

So they’ll memory-hole it. They’ll talk about something else. But we won’t forget. A Texas dad had a gun, used it when it mattered, and every single one of his kids went home safe that night.

That’s not a tragedy. That’s the Second Amendment working exactly as intended.