I know that it’s not exactly my place to get involved in this situation, but I’m trying to process these recent events and be as supportive for my fiancé as I can be.

My fiancé’s parents have fought sporadically throughout their whole marriage. There’s a regular pattern where an argument will escalate so quickly, one of them will threaten a divorce, they spend time apart, come back together, and the cycle continues. I never thought things would be this bad. I don’t know well enough to “choose sides” even if it were my place to do so... I have witnessed verbal and emotional abuse from both of them in the short time I’ve known them.

Tonight while my fiancé was at his parents house, they started fighting and it started getting physical. His mom was trying to beat on his dad, his dad pushing her away. While my fiancé was trying to diffuse the situation and figure out how it started, his mom came up the stairs with a gun threatening to shoot his dad. My fiancé stepped in and put his hand against the gun to stop her and she pulled the trigger. Thankfully no one was hurt; the bullet went through the wall. His mom quickly packed a bag and left.

My fiancé is still in shock. I don’t know what to say. I don’t want this to be another part in a long cycle, I don’t want something like this to happen again. Next time the consequences could be fatal. I wasn’t exposed to this kind of family life growing up, so I can’t imagine what my fiancé is going through. I want to advise him and his dad to notify the police. But making that call that would send his mother to prison would be one of the hardest decisions for him. I truly feel that she needs treatment in a psych ward (and that his dad needs therapy/treatment as well). This is such a horrible situation.