A Florida woman, in her eighth month of pregnancy, used an assault-style rifle to foil a home invasion and kill one of two armed intruders, police said.
The incident happened late on Oct. 30 in Lithia, Fla., outside Tampa, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Department.
Police say the two intruders broke into the home shortly after 9 p.m. and demanded money. Both of them were carrying handguns.
King says the men started pistol-whipping him in the head. His wife was in the back bedroom at the time, and she peeked out to see what was happening. The intruders fired a shot at her and she ducked behind the door.
King’s wife went back into the bedroom and grabbed the AR-15 rifle they had hidden there. She waited until one of the intruders came to the door, then she fired one shot and “clipped him,” according to King.
The home invaders immediately gave up and fled. However, the injured man did not get far. He fell into a ditch and died during the escape, according to police.
“He made it from my back door to roughly 200 feet out in the front ditch before the AR did its thing,” King said.
King says he took a “severe beating” in the incident.
“I’ve got a fractured eye socket, a fractured sinus cavity, a concussion, 20 stitches and three staples in my head,” he said.
He credited his legally owned AR-15 — and his wife — with saving his life.
The AR-15 is designed to fire several shots in quick succession, if necessary. However, the pregnant woman only fired one shot.
Her name has not been released.
The incident has triggered a flurry of partisan reaction online, particularly among Second Amendment advocates in the U.S.
Gun-control advocates have called for the AR-15 rifle to be banned in the United States because it’s frequently used in mass shootings. However, the assault-style weapon remains legal in Florida.
Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Maj. Frank Losat told reporters that the incident appears to have been targeted.
“This was not a random act,” he said.
The second home intruder escaped. No arrests have been made.