Her son, Christian Squillaciotti, 33, was in his bedroom in the house next to hers in South Philadelphia with a gun to his head, the neighbor told her. He asked his sister to call the cops so they could shoot him.
"He wanted them to come get him and kill him," his mother said yesterday, her voice shaking between sobs. "He wanted to die."
The cops came at 6:20 Monday night to his house on Shunk Street near 5th, and Squillaciotti surrendered while relatives consoled him.
It was around that time, Custer said, that she learned why her son was wrestling demons.
In a case of road-rage that rattled motorists across the region, Squillaciotti allegedly shot and critically injured a South Jersey man the night of Oct. 5, just after they crossed the Walt Whitman Bridge into Philadelphia.
Thomas Timko, 41, of Gloucester Township, N.J., was driving his 8-year-old daughter, Katie, to her mother's house in Norristown. He may have inadvertently cut off Squillaciotti at around 8:40 p.m. and the two men exchanged angry gestures. Timko apparently gave Squillaciotti the finger, police said.
From the driver's seat of the gray Ford pickup, Squillaciotti then fired at least four shots at Timko's 2001 Toyota Highlander, police said. Timko was struck on the side of the head, but managed to get to the side of the road where Katie got out and, by flagging down other drivers to help, may have saved her father's life. She was not injured but Timko remains in critical but stable condition at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, police said.
Squillaciotti is charged with two counts of attempted murder, aggravated assault and related offenses.
Squillaciotti was at large for about a week, while police chased leads that a gray Ford pickup was seen exiting at Passyunk Avenue after the shooting. They released a photo of the truck taken from a video camera at the toll plaza. Anonymous tips led police to Squillaciotti.
"This is just such a terrible thing," Custer cried yesterday. "I'm very sorry and my son is so very sorry. Pray for this man [Timko] and pray for his daughter. And pray for my son. This isn't the man he is."
A sign in Custer's front window reads, "Proudly Supports the Philadelphia Police."
Custer said that her son had been in a terrible car accident earlier this year and hadn't been himself for months. He had been hearing voices, she said.
Meanwhile, a blanket of leaves covered the lawn at the split-level home where Timko lives with his girlfriend in the Glendora section of Gloucester Township. Neighbors said that Timko was meticulous about the lawn's appearance, and the leaves are a reminder of how long he's been gone.
"It will be nice to see his face when he comes walking back home," said next-door neighbor Chris McKeever.
McKeever said she hadn't had a chance to see Timko's girlfriend, Dawn Roccia, since the arrest.
"She goes to the hospital every day and she doesn't come back until late at night," McKeever said.
Donna DiCiano, a relative of Roccia's, said that the arrest is a small consolation.
"I'm glad, but it isn't helping him any," she said.
DiCiano, who lives a few houses down from Roccia, said that Timko was at her house just days before the shooting to fix her toilet.
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