Motorist Says He Shot Family Who Stopped to Help Him Because Their Daughter Laughed at Him

A stranded motorist who allegedly shot dead a Montana couple after they stopped to help him on the side of the road said he opened fire because their daughter laughed at him.

Jesus Deniz Mendoza, 18, of Worland, Wyoming, allegedly killed Tana and Jason Shane and injured their daughter, Jorah Shane, in the terrifying scene at Crow Nation Indian Reservation on Wednesday.

That morning, Mrs Shane, 47, was driving home and passed Deniz on the side of the road. He told her that he had run out of gas, a family member told The Associated Press.

So she headed back to her home, which was less than 50 yards away, and picked up her 51-year-old husband and 26-year-old daughter and drove back to the stranded car.

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"Both my brother and sister-in-law have big hearts," Ada Shane said. "They're always helping someone else."

But when they arrived, the man pulled a gun and pointed it at Jason Shane's head and ordered everybody to get out of the car, Ada Shane said.

He demanded money from the family but they said they only had change because they had just returned from a religious event.

Deniz allegedly told them to start walking - and Tana Shane told her daughter to run.

Jorah Shane said she heard a shot and started running before feeling bullets pass close to her head. Another then hit her back.

Passersby heard her screams and she was rushed to the hospital.

Police arrested the suspect in Wyoming on Wednesday about 120 miles away from Pryor, the small town where the shooting unfolded.

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In an interview with the FBI, he reportedly admitted to shooting three people with a .22 caliber rifle and then driving away in their car.

"Deniz told the interviewing agents that he shot the victims because he was getting tired of waiting around, and because the daughter had laughed at him," the statement said.

On Thursday as she spoke to The Associated Press, Ada Shane said that her niece did not know her parents had died.

The 26-year-old underwent surgery for the bullet lodged in her spine and is recovering in hospital.

Deniz is in a Wyoming jail cell waiting for an extradition hearing so he can be sent back to Montana to face charges.

He is due in court in Billings on Friday. It is not clear whether Deniz has an attorney.

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