July 6, 2018

Action Alert:
Protect Children Left Alone in Car with Unsecured Gun


On the evening of July 4, 2018, Michelle Booker was driving to a family gathering with her two young children, ages two and four, in the back seat. Inside her SUV’s unlocked glove compartment was an unsecured, loaded handgun. Booker stopped at a gas station convenience store just after 10:00PM and left her two young children alone in her running SUV with the unsecured handgun.

While she was inside the convenience store, an employee informed her that a thief was starting to drive away with her SUV and children. Booker ran out and  jumped into the back seat of the moving vehicle and confronted 36 year-old car thief Ricky Wright, demanding he stop.

After Wright refused her commands, Booker was able to access her handgun from the glove compartment. She shot Wright in the head and the SUV crashed into a telephone pole. Miraculously, Booker’s children weren’t injured during the incident. Wright was injured, hospitalized and charged with two counts of Unlawful Restraint and Unauthorized Use of a Motor Vehicle.

Please contact Dallas County District Attorney Faith Johnson and the Texas Department of Family & Protective Services through one of the channels below and give them the following messages (personalized to your liking):

District Attorney
I am writing because I am deeply disturbed by the incident that took place at a Shell gas station in South Dallas on the evening of July 4, 2018. Your office has already brought charges against 36 year-old Ricky Wright for attempting to carjack Michelle Booker’s SUV with her two young children (ages 2 and 4) inside the vehicle. I thank you for that and hope justice is served against Mr. Wright. Something else concerns me, however. If Mrs. Booker was able to access her handgun in the glove compartment from the back seat during a panicked, high-speed drive with Mr. Wright behind the wheel, then that firearm was likely also accessible to her children when she went inside the station’s convenience store and left them in a running vehicle. I am worried Mrs. Booker (and others parents) will continue to endanger children through negligent handling and storage of firearms. Please use the July 4th incident as an opportunity to educate Dallas County residents about Texas’ Child Access Prevention law and the responsibilities that gun owners have in regards to safeguarding children. Please also make it clear that Dallas law enforcement officials do not tolerate reckless behavior with guns that causes harm to minors. Thank you.

Family & Protective Services
I am writing because I am deeply disturbed by the details of a carjacking incident that took place at a Shell gas station in South Dallas on the evening of July 4, 2018. Thirty-six year-old Ricky Wright has been charged with two different crimes for carjacking Michelle Booker’s SUV with her two young children (ages 2 and 4) in the back seat. That’s a good thing. I am concerned about reporting that indicates Mrs. Booker left her children alone in the SUV that night with a loaded, unsecured handgun in the vehicle’s unlocked glove compartment. She did this when she went inside the convenience store to purchase something. At that point, the children were alone in the back seat of a running SUV.  An employee of the store then had to inform Mrs. Booker that Mr. Wright was driving away in her SUV with her kids. After entering the moving SUV, Mrs. Booker was able to access to her handgun from the back seat during a panicked, high-speed drive with Mr. Wright behind the wheel. Tha tells me that this weapon is likely also accessible to unattended children in that vehicle. I am concerned that Mrs. Booker will continue to endanger her children’s safety through her negligent handling and storage of firearms. I would appreciate it if you could look into this case to ensure the children are being protected. Thank you.

District Attorney Faith Johnson
Phone: (214) 653-3600
Email via webform: https://www.faithjohnsonforda.com/contact/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/faithjohnsonfordistrictattorney/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/dallascountydao

Texas Family & Protective Services
Phone: (512) 438-4800
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TexasDFPS/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TexasDFPS

Once you have made your contacts, please fill out the three fields below and click the orange banner to report taking action!


This is an action alert, NOT an online petition. Please take the action before filling out the fields below.

56 people have taken this action