A gunman opened fire on a pickup truck carrying an American missionary couple and their six children on a Guatemala highway, wounding the parents and a 14-year-old child, police said Thursday.
Charles Stillmans, 46, Regina May Sperry, 42, and their son Timoero Elyad were lightly injured in the attack late Wednesday night.
Police said the family, based in neighboring Honduras, was returning to the United States when gunmen in three pickups tried to force them to stop in what appeared to be a robbery attempt.
Stillmans accelerated and one of the men opened fire, causing the injuries. The attackers retreated after Stillmans hit one of trucks.
The couple's five other children, ages 6 to 13, were riding in the back of the truck and were not injured, police said.
No information was immediately available on the family's religious affiliation or their U.S. hometown.
Guatemala has been plagued by a series of violent highway robberies, which sometimes target tourists or foreigners. A U.S. tourist was shot to death aboard a bus during an armed robbery on a Guatemalan highway on Jan. 7.