A nightmare neighbor opened fire on a toddler’s birthday party – only to find himself sprayed with bullets that almost killed him.
James Thompson, 63, was shot seven times after he opened fire when his neighbor Regine Murray and her three-year-old child’s birthday party returned to their home in Houston on Saturday.
Murray told ABC13 the shooting spree came as ‘we were just outside talking and hanging out’ after the group returned from the party.
Thompson was seen in the surveillance footage arguing with Murray’s group outside her home, and he was reportedly shouting about a dog when the situation escalated.
He began shooting when one person threw a water bottle at him, and Murray said ‘things just kind of unraveled really quickly.’
‘He just started shooting at everybody,’ she recalled.
‘People (were) inches away from getting shot in their head.’
As people were seen scrambling for safety outside Murray’s home, several members of her group returned fire at Thompson and hit him multiple times.
Shocking surveillance footage captured the moment a toddler’s birthday party flew into chaos when a neighbor opened fire on partygoers, who then shot the gunman with return fire
Regine Murray said the shooting spree came when her friends and family returned to her home in Harris County, Texas on Saturday, from her three-year-old’s birthday party
James Thompson, 63, was shot seven times after he opened fire on the birthday party group and the partygoers returned fire
Thompson was arrested shortly after the shocking incident, and was seen limping and struggling to stand as he made his first court appearance this week.
He told a judge as he stumbled up in court: ‘Ma’am, I’ve been shot seven times.’
Murray said her boyfriend was shot twice in the stomach during the shooting, and he has had to undergo two surgeries to recover from his injuries.
Thompson has previously been accused by his neighbors of exhibiting threatening or menacing behavior over a lengthy period of time.
Just last year, records obtained by ABC13 showed Murray pressed charges against Thompson four times, including twice on the same day.
In one case, Thompson threatened to blow Murray’s ‘brains out’ while waving a gun around, court records showed.
‘He talks to us every day, and he threatens to kill us, threatens to shoot us,’ Murray said this week.
‘We’re in fear for our lives, we’re terrified.’
Regine Murray said she has had to deal with Thompson ‘threatening us’ on numerous occasions, including him allegedly telling her he would ‘blow her brains out’
Thompson limped and struggled to stand at his first court appearance this week, telling a judge he had been ‘shot seven times’
Murray said her boyfriend was shot twice in the stomach during the shooting, and he has had to undergo two surgeries to recover from his injuries
In December, Thompson was sentenced to six months in jail on charges of making terroristic threats when he took a plea deal.
Prosecutors subsequently dropped three other threat charges and an aggravated assault charge against him the same day that he took the plea deal.
Thompson didn’t serve his full sentence even accounting for his time served, and Murray said she is hoping the repeat offender is put behind bars for good following the shooting on Saturday.
‘Praying and hoping that the judges and the DA will do something about it this time. It shouldn’t take someone to lose their life before he really goes to jail forever,’ she said.
Thompson is charged with three counts of aggravated assault for the shooting and also faces a tampering charge for throwing his gun over a fence, and his bond was set at $370,000.
He remained behind bars days after his arrest, however his public defender at his hearing this week said he ‘is eager to return to court so that he can clear his name and return to his restful retirement.’
