BARBOURSVILLE, WVa. — A mother in West Virginia is now admitting she may have overreacted when she pulled a gun on a man, who it turns out, wasn’t trying to abduct her 5-year-old daughter afterall, authorities said.
Update 7:00 p.m. EDT April 2: The woman was shopping with her daughter at the Huntingdon Mall, in Barboursville, Monday night when she reported that a man, later identified as Mohamed Fathy Hussein Zayan, allegedly "grabbed the child by the hair and attempted to pull her away," WSAZ reported, citing police.
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Investigators are now saying they discovered inconsistencies in the woman's story and that she eventually admitted she might have misjudged Zayan's actions, overreacting when he touched her child's head, The Associated Press reported.
WSAZ is reporting the woman said it could have been "a cultural misunderstanding."
Prosecutors are working to reduce the man's bail so he can leave jail, the station reported.
UPDATE | The Cabell County prosecutor tells WSAZ he is working on reducing the suspect's bond so that he can get out of jail.
— WSAZ NewsChannel 3 (@WSAZnews) April 2, 2019
The mom now tells police the incident could have been a "cultural misunderstanding."https://t.co/oVf7B4Zz0c
Original story:
A mother in West Virginia said she stopped an attempted abduction when she pulled a gun on the man who was allegedly trying to kidnap her 5-year-old daughter.
The mother and daughter were shopping at the Huntingdon Mall, in Barboursville, Monday night when a man, later identified as Mohamed Fathy Hussein Zayan, allegedly "grabbed the child by the hair and attempted to pull her away," according to police reports, WSAZ reported.
The girl fell to the floor, but police said Zayan still tried to pull her away, until the girl's mother pulled out her handgun and ordered him to let go of the girl, WSAZ reported.
He did, and then he ran, but didn't go far. Police said mall security and police officers found Zayan near the mall's food court a short time later, WSAZ reported.
Barboursville police said the case was an isolated incident.
Zayan was charged with attempted abduction and was being held on $200,000 cash bond, WOWK reported. He was told he would have to surrender his passport and stay in West Virginia.
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