A TEENAGE mum shot and killed an intruder after a 911 operator told her "do what you have to do to protect your baby".

Sarah McKinley, 18, was home alone with her three-month-old baby on New Year's Eve when she heard two men, one armed with a hunting knife, trying to break into her home, America's ABC News reports.



McKinley, whose husband died from cancer on Christmas Day, phoned 911 and grabbed her 12-gauge shotgun as the men went from door to door trying to gain entry.



Ms McKinley asked the 911 dispatcher what to do should the two men break in.



‘I’ve got two guns in my hand – is it okay to shoot him if he comes in the door?’ she said.



‘I’m in here by myself with my infant baby, can I please get a dispatcher out here immediately?’



Once the 911 dispatcher confirmed with the young mother that her doors were indeed locked, Ms McKinley asked again if she could shoot the intruders.



‘I can’t tell you that you can do that but you do what you have to do to protect your baby,’ the dispatcher told her.



The Oklahoma woman killed Justin Martin with a single gunshot as he kicked in a door.His alleged accomplice, Dustin Stewart, fled when he heard the gunshot and later surrendered.



Police found Martin, 24, slumped over a floral-print sofa with a single gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene.



Blanchard Police Detective Dan Huff said the shooting was justified.



‘You’re allowed to shoot an unauthorised person that is in your home,’ he said.



'The law provides you the remedy, and sanctions the use of deadly force.



Originally published as Teen mum shoots intruder dead