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Two boys, 9 and 13, on life support after mom allegedly shoots them

They were found in their beds with gunshot wounds to their heads, authorities said.
/ Source: NBC News

Two Pennsylvania boys were on life support Monday after their mother shot them in the head while they were in bed at home in a wealthy Philadelphia suburb, authorities said.

The boys, ages 9 and 13, will remain hospitalized until their organs can be donated, a spokesman for the Bucks County district attorney said Monday night.

Authorities said in a probable cause affidavit filed in local district court that their mother, Trinh Nguyen, 38, also tried to shoot her neighbor in the head before she fled in a white minivan Monday morning.

Nguyen was taken into custody around 11:30 a.m., about four hours after authorities responded to a 911 call from the neighbor, the district attorney’s office said in a release.

Video of the arrest captured by NBC Philadelphia showed her in what appeared to be pajamas.

Nguyen was charged with three counts of attempted criminal homicide, authorities said. According to court records, she was being held without bail.

Trinh Nguyen is captured.
Trinh Nguyen is captured.WCAU

It wasn’t immediately clear whether she has a lawyer to speak on her behalf. Court records didn’t list one.

According to the affidavit, authorities were dispatched to a home in Upper Makefield Township shortly after 7 a.m. when a man reported that he’d been leaving to go work when his neighbor, Nguyen, approached him with a box of photos.

Nguyen asked that he give the photos to her ex-husband, with whom the neighbor works with, the affidavit says.

When the neighbor turned around, Nguyen pointed a black revolver at his face and pulled the trigger twice, the affidavit alleges. The gun didn’t fire, it says.

The neighbor bear-hugged and disarmed Nguyen, who told him the gun wasn’t loaded — even though several rounds were found in the chamber, the affidavit says.

After Nguyen fled and the neighbor alerted police, authorities checked her home and found the two children.

“Upon entry both boys were found still alive but in their beds with gunshot wounds to their heads,” Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub told reporters.

Authorities released a “wanted” bulletin describing Nguyen as armed and dangerous.

She was found at United Methodist Church in Washington Crossing, a few miles east of Upper Makefield, NBC Philadelphia reported.

This article originally appeared on NBCNew.com.