ADA, Okla. – Police in this southern Oklahoma town said a neighbor may have saved the lives of three-month-old twins by shooting their father to death while he tried to drown them in a bathtub, holding his estranged wife at bay with a knife.

The neighbor, Cash Freeman, responded to the scene after a 12-year-old girl living next door came running and crying to his home around 12:30 p.m. Friday, pleading for help.

Freeman told police he grabbed his revolver, dashed to the home, heard screams from the bathroom and encountered Leland Foster, 27, brandishing a knife at his wife and holding the twins, a boy and girl, underwater in the bathtub.

Police said Freeman shot Foster twice in the back. He died later of his injuries.

The babies were airlifted to an Oklahoma City hospital and released over the weekend. Lisa Bratcher, the city’s public information officer, said they are “doing great.”

The twins’ mother, Michelle Forrells, was unavailable for comment. Police said she witnessed the shooting. She had been living apart from Foster.

Freeman said he did what he had to do to save the baby twins. He was widely praised on the internet as a hero.

Police said the district attorney will determine if it was justifiable homicide.

Bratcher said the city’s safety dispatcher received a call about 12:30 p.m. Friday from a woman pleading for help. The woman said a man had a knife and was threatening to kill her and her babies. The dispatcher could hear the woman screaming and sounds of a struggle.

Details for this story were provided by the Ada, Oklahoma, News.