Two brothers were killed Friday night when they tried to protect a neighbor who ran their home to get away from her abusive boyfriend.

Sgt. Jason Brown of the Harris County Sheriff’s Office said the woman and her two teenage children ran next door after she was involved in a domestic violence incident with her live-in boyfriend. Three brothers went outside “to intervene,” Brown said, and the suspect, who had followed the woman over, opened fire,  killing two of them.

The third brother was also armed, and he and the suspect traded gunshots until the suspect fled back inside the house, where he shot himself.

Brown said the domestic violence victim, her children, and the surviving brother are cooperating with the investigation. The two dead brothers were 15 and 30 years old. The brothers were from Guatemala. The suspect was believed to be in his 20s.

The woman and her children were not physically harmed. The children were inside the home and did not witness the shooting.

Brown said deputies had been called a few days earlier for a domestic violence incident between the same woman and man but did not have details.

The identities of those involved have not yet been released.

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