A tragic incident unfolded in Wyoming when a woman was shot after attempting to disarm a man who was reportedly behaving erratically with a firearm, authorities have reported.

The suspect, 43-year-old Javier Abeyta, is accused of fatally shooting Marissa Allen in Gillette on October 9th, following a day marked by increasingly unstable behavior, as detailed in an arrest affidavit sourced by the Cowboy State Daily.

According to law enforcement, Abeyta had allegedly been using methamphetamine while socializing with Allen and others at a residence on the 1300 block of O’Henry Drive prior to the shooting.

The affidavit reveals that the incident escalated in the garage of the home, where Abeyta allegedly shot Allen when she tried to confiscate a Hi-Point semiautomatic 9 mm pistol from him. At the time, Abeyta was reportedly pointing the weapon at Allen’s boyfriend, as reported by the Gillette News Record.

Witnesses described Abeyta as having a “blank stare” as events unfolded. He allegedly attempted to shoot Allen’s boyfriend in the back of the head, but the gun did not fire. Following this, he reportedly turned the weapon on Allen.

“I shot her,” Abeyta told a witness at the home who ran outside to see what happened after hearing the gunfire, according to the affidavit.

“I killed her,” he allegedly said. “Get out of my way or I will shoot you too.”

Abeyta’s sister later told police that he had been acting very paranoid leading up to the shooting and was taken to a local hospital earlier in the day by her because she thought he was dehydrated from drinking alcohol.

People at the home with Abeyta allegedly said he believed the group was trying to kill him. Abeyta can be heard on surveillance video obtained from a nearby residence yelling as kids in the neighborhood ride bikes out front, according to the affidavit. A parent told the children to go inside right as the gunfire rang out, the Record reports.

Police allegedly recovered a bullet in the drywall of the garage and a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun that was linked to Abeyta. Allen was rushed to a local hospital after the shooting and then airlifted to a medical center in Colorado, where she was declared brain dead, per reports.

Local court officials told Law&Crime on Wednesday that Abeyta has a lengthy criminal record, with multiple arrests in the past for various crimes. He was being held on a $1 million bond for attempted second-degree murder and aggravated assault, but prosecutors expect the charges to be upgraded on account of Allen’s condition.

“This will probably get upgraded to an actual murder,” said a Campbell County prosecutor during Abeyta’s bond hearing on Tuesday, according to the Record.