Investigation Continues In Case Of Teens Killed After Botched Burglary In Texas

Investigators are still trying to piece everything together after that shootout in Ellis County,Texas.

Two heavily armed Oklahoma teens tried to break into a home. A significant amount of gunfire was exchanged with the homeowner. Then the two took their own lives.

According to the Ellis County, Texas sheriff, the shootout lasted a number of minutes before the two young men killed themselves. News 9 is also learning another nearby rancher who heard the gunfire joined in the gunfight to help his neighbor.

While the homeowners there are being praised by the Texas sheriff's department and the community, a grieving mother is trying to understand why her son was even involved.

3/21/2013 Related Story: Runaway Teen's Mother Speaks Out After Sound Found Shot To Death 

Neighbors say the shootout seemed to last between four and five minutes. Neighbors heard the gunfire up to a half a mile away.

"I just heard some gunfire, like some rapid gunfire," said a Mayoral, TX, neighbor. "Four, five,six rounds, and then another round."

Ellis County Sheriffs Deputies believe the homeowner hit one of the teens in the foot, but he ultimately took his own life. That young man was found lying in a field near the home. In another field, the truck stolen by 17-year-old Kenneth Chaffin was found with a body inside.

"He was a specialboy, he really was. He was not a bad kid. He just did something stupid," said Dillian King's mother, Karen Jones.

3/20/2013 Related Story: Oklahoma Teen Runaway Found Dead After Attempted Robbery in Texas

King, 18, and Chaffin were close friends. The two lived right down the road from each other in Bethel Acres. Wednesday night, the Pottawatomie County Sheriff went to Dillian's mother's home and told her to sit down.

"And I knew something happened to him. I knew," said Jones. "I don't know how I knew, or why I knew. I just knew,"

Jones says her son was a child who had his struggles and was making some big changes in his life. 

3/20/2013 Related Story: Truck Driven By Armed Pottawatomie County Runaway Found In Texas

"I believe that both of them are good kids. I don't know why they did this," said Jones.

It's unclear how long the teens were in Maypearl, Texas, or what led them there to begin with. News 9 is told the homeowners there are still shaken and have not made any comment.

No weapons were taken from Dillian King's home, but more than a dozen guns and several rounds of ammunition were taken from Kenneth Chaffin's home.

3/19/2013 Related Story: Pott. County Authorities Seek Runaway Teen Who Stole Parents' Weapons, Truck