Father Threatens Hospital Staff With Gun To Keep Son On Life Support

In what is being termed as an act of love loaded with danger, a father stormed a medical center with a gun in Texas this January to prevent the hospital from pulling the plug on his son.

Reports describe how George Pickering II was in a three-hour standoff with cops at the Tomball Regional Center in Houston in effort to 'save' his son who was on life support following a stroke. The son, George Pickering III was declared him brain dead in January. The hospital had reportedly listed Pickering's son as an available organ donor and had ordered to slowly withdraw life support, reports Fox 59.

"I felt hopeless. They were moving too fast. The hospital, the nurses, the doctors," Pickering said according to NY Daily News. He then decided to take action.

He barged in with a handgun and threatened the hospital staff to let him see his son. Though he was disarmed by another son, Pickering refused to come out of the room his son was in. After three hours, he surrendered peacefully to the waiting SWAT teams. He was later jailed on two counts and released earlier this month.

According to The Washington Post, Pickering claimed that he sensed his son was not gone. He admitted to being drunk during the incident but also claimed that his unconscious son squeezed his hand several times during the standoff. Only then did he surrender, he said.

George Pickering III is alive today and attributes his survival to his father's act.