'Ripple effect' of heroism unfolds when 16-year-old takes bullet for stepmom, bystander saves teen

DEER PARK, Texas (KTRK) -- A 16-year-old is being called a hero after taking a bullet for his stepmother during an armed carjacking in Deer Park on Tuesday night.

Police said the man who shot the teen in the upper torso is facing multiple charges after an armed robbery and leading law enforcement on a multi-jurisdictional chase.

ONLY ON 13, the teen's family opened up about the scary situation.

William Hammond's parents told ABC13 their son should fully recover after his fast action to help defend his stepmom. The family said they want justice and the man accused of doing this to be put away for life.

"William is the hero. And he took that bullet for me," Charlotte Tucker, the victim's stepmom, said.

Tucker and her stepson were leaving work at I Heart Mac and Cheese on Spencer Highway on Tuesday night when a man approached the stepmom, demanding her car.

"He wasn't even supposed to work (Tuesday)," the teen's father, Christopher Hammond, said. "I'm just glad that he worked because who knows what the guy could've done to Charlotte."

Tucker said things unfolded quickly when her stepson was inside their vehicle and realized the commotion. She said he threw a glass bottle at the armed man and stepped in to keep him away from his stepmother.

"I don't even know if a thought registered about the gun yet, and I don't know if that mattered to Will, but he wanted the guy away from me," Tucker said. "He wanted the guy away from me. He was trying to get the guy away from me, and he was going to fight him."

Tucker said she heard a loud pop a few moments later.

ORIGINAL STORY: Carjacking suspect shot 16-year-old in the chest in Deer Park before chase, Houston police say

"He wasn't OK. There was blood everywhere," Tucker said, recalling her pleas to him to stay awake. "'William, look at me,' and, 'I love you,' and he looked up at me, and he said, 'I love you,' and 'I'm OK.'"

She said an employee at a nearby store asked what was happening and quickly stepped into action.

"I see a bunch of blood coming down, and I couldn't even...He pulls up his shirt a bit, and I see a hole on his chest, and I go, 'Oh, my, this is serious,'" Riley Gingrich, an eyewitness and William's hero, said. "(I) take off my shirt as fast as I can, and I see the hole. Put my shirt on the hole, and I'm holding it, and Ms. Charlotte comes over and is holding his head."

Gingrich said he did what he could to keep the teen awake and alert.

"Riley was there, took off his shirt immediately, and applied pressure to the wound. I don't know if Riley wouldn't have been there if this would be a completely different scenario," Tucker said.

The family also calls Gingrich a hero for stepping up and taking action quickly to ensure William didn't bleed out. When first responders showed up, William was taken to the hospital by Life Flight.

His family said William was shot in the upper torso on the left side, where the bullet hit his lung and went all the way through his back. They said his recovery was a miracle.

As William, otherwise called "Will," fought for his life on his way to the hospital, first responders said 28-year-old Matthew Hubbard led law enforcement on a multi-jurisdictional high-speed chase after being accused of shooting the teen and stealing their car.

Investigators said the chase started in Deer Park and ended in west Houston on Creek Bend Drive.

"He's a bad character. He needs to be put away for life," the victim's father said.

Hubbard was arrested and is facing multiple charges, including aggravated robbery. Court records show he has a lengthy criminal past dating back to when he was 14 years old.

"The guy that did this, I want him to go away forever. That shouldn't have happened," Tucker said.

Will remains at the hospital and should make a full recovery. His family said he'd need rehabilitation, but they were told in several days, he should be able to leave the hospital.

"When you had told me, 'He's going to be OK,' my heart dropped. That was the biggest sigh of relief probably in my entire life," Gingrich told Will's parents.

Tucker said they're alive to tell the story thanks to her two heroes: her stepson and a bystander who stepped up.

"The ripple effect. William saved me. Riley saved William and, ultimately, God," Tucker said.

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