HOUSTON -- A group of men attempted to burglarize a northeast Harris County business but ended up messing with the wrong man.  Instead of a simple robbery, the situation turned into a gunbattle. It happened early Sunday morning at a family owned roofing business in the 10500 block of Foy. 

Sergio Rodriguez, Sr., was taken to the hospital with three gunshot wounds. Rodriguez is the father of seven, and while doctors say he will recover, the close call left his family with a life-changing realization.

The attempted robbery took place at a small family roofing business, but the business is everything the family has.  Sergio and his family worked 12 hours a day for the past five years to build it up to the thousands of dollars of inventory it has today.

“He's the one that picked up the whole business. It started with a little piece.  And now we have this one and another one. And he said he was going to open another one,” said Sergio Rodriguez, Jr.

So when thieves tried to steal his family's hard work, the elder Rodriguez wasn't about to hand it over. He fought back.

“He did what he needed to do to protect himself, his wife and his property,” said Detective Waters of the Houston Police Department.

Police say three or four armed suspects tried to take the business owner's money.  But when they did, they were faced with a gun. One suspect died at scene; the others are wounded.

Rodriguez was shot three times.

“He's trying to take care of the family. Some people just don't want to work and think it’s easy to just come and steal money,” said Rodriguez, Jr.

Unfortunately, this is not the first time the Rodriguez family business has been targeted by thieves.

“He got a gun pointed at him and they took everything,” said Rodriguez, Jr., recounting the last time their business was robbed.

After every setback, Rodriguez, Sr., worked hard to rebuild his family business.  But this time, his sons realized their father may not always be there.

“We need to know what he is doing.  What he does to keep all of us moving,” said Rodriguez, Jr.

With their father recovering from the bullets that nearly took his life, his sons plan to do more than simply work 12-hour days.  They are going to learn the business their father has been building for years.

Homicide detectives at the scene said Rodriguez, Sr., will not face any charges.