TRINITY, Fla. - A neighbor is being hailed a "hero" by a Florida sheriff for allegedly saving a victim of domestic violence.

Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco said the victim was inside a house Wednesday in Trinity, Florida and "was screaming for help as they were being attacked." The house was later found to be in disarray, with blood inside.

The victim reportedly put elementary school-age children outside the second-floor window to try to protect them.

"That has to be a horrific scene for somebody -- a victim to be placing young children out of a second-story window because they're in such fear for their lives inside the house," Nocco said.

A neighbor who was mowing grass saw the children and came over to retrieve them, the sheriff added. The suspect went outside to confront the neighbor who in turn tried to calm the man.

The neighbor went back to his property, but the suspect allegedly took out a gun and fired at the neighbor. The neighbor fired back, striking and killing the suspect.

The victims are OK, the sheriff said.

Nocco called the neighbor "a hero" for "helping another victim who was a victim of domestic violence."

"He tried to defuse the situation," Nocco said of the neighbor, but when the suspect fired, he defended himself.

"Domestic violence is a horrible crime," the sheriff said. "Unfortunately it's only spoken about when it occurs. We see a large amount of deaths in our county and regionally due to domestic violence. So I hope in times when we're not here talking about it, people are trying to do something to stop it. Because unfortunately, we see that's a nexus to a lot of crimes and a lot of deaths."

The names of the suspect, victims and neighbor have not been released.