Bellingham police say a 10-year-old boy defended his mother from an attacker by shooting him in the face with a BB rifle as many as four times.

The woman and boy were able to flee to a neighbor's home Tuesday morning and call for help.

The man rents a room in the woman's home and came home drunk and angry. Police say he kicked in a bedroom door and started choking the woman.

Police say her 10-year-old son hit him with a board and then shot him in the face with the pump-action BB rifle as he grappled with the woman.

The 45-year-old man was treated at a hospital and arrested for investigation of assault and making death threats.