Littlefield, TX – A neighbor armed with a gun and a concealed carry permit came to the rescue of a woman who was confronted by a knife-wielding carjacker while her children were still in the car.

A woman and her boyfriend were loading up her car with the woman’s children.

Ruben Lopez, 25, reportedly approached the couple while armed with a knife.

Lopez told the couple the car was his and assaulted the man and woman.

During the attack, the woman tried desperately to get her children out of the car.

Neighbor Adam Armstrong saw his neighbors being attacked and grabbed his pistol.

“He got to the driveway and pulled a knife, so I grabbed my pistol,” Armstrong said, according to KLBK-TV.

Armstrong said Lopez was also a neighbor and that he had problems with Lopez in the past. Armstrong said once he pulled his gun out, Lopez walked across the street and was then arrested by police.

When police arrived, Lopez dropped his knife but still attacked the police officer, according to WNEM-TV.

“My house didn’t become a crime scene, and now I don’t have a young man’s blood on my hands,” Armstrong said, according to KLBK.

Armstrong has had his license to carry for about six months. He said incidents like the run-in with Lopez is why he got one.

“I have always believed in my rights as an American, and I have always believed in my rights to be safe,” Armstrong said, according to KLBK.

“Mr. Armstrong,” the Littlefield Police Department said in a post on their Facebook page. “Thank you for your assistance and your willingness to come to the aid of your neighbor. Great job sir.”

Lopez was booked and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, assault causing bodily harm, terroristic threat and resisting arrest, according to KCBD-TV.