A Florida woman, reportedly 8 months pregnant, shot and killed one of two home intruders, police say

Jordan Culver | USA TODAY

A Florida woman used a rifle to defend her home against two armed intruders who demanded money from her husband, killing one man, police said.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office confirmed two men broke into a home in Lithia and "made demands" of the homeowners. The woman, who, according to local reports is 8 months pregnant, fired one shot from a gun that was in the house after the intruders attacked her husband, according to police.

Maj. Frank Losat told reporters that the sheriff's office received a call about the incident just before 9 p.m. Wednesday. Emergency responders arrived at the scene and found one of the two intruders dead in a ditch.

In a Monday email, sheriff's spokeswoman Crystal Clark told USA TODAY that the second intruder was still at-large. Clark said it was "unclear" exactly what kind of gun the woman used in the incident, though Clark said it was a rifle.

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Clark added, "The woman told deputies she heard a shot fired prior to firing the weapon she had."

The gun used by the woman was in the house legally, Losat said. He added that the man who was attacked was taken to a hospital. Clark said the woman was not hurt.

Bay News 9 in Tampa spoke with the man who was attacked. The man, identified as Jeremy King, said his wife grabbed an AR-15 after one of the men who broke into the house shot at her.

King added his wife is 8 months pregnant, according to the news station.

“They came in heavily hooded and masked," King told Bay News 9. "As soon as they had got the back door opened, they had a pistol on me and was grabbing my 11-year-old daughter."

Losat said authorities don't believe the home invasion was random. The sheriff's office reiterated that in a news release.

"We also know that this was not a random act, that this family was probably targeted," Losat said.