A West Virginia grandmother scared off a would-be home intruder on Christmas Eve.WSAZ reports self-described "tough old lady" Yvonda "Bonnie" Gatens woke up in the early hours of the morning to hear someone trying to pry open her bedroom window. She called 911, grabbed her gun and set out to confront the suspect."I come up right here, real quietly (and said) 'get ready to die,' and he went this side, he just fell over," Gatens recalls, laughing. She insists the gun was cocked and she was ready to open fire. "Right at the foot of my bed? I mean, give me a break," Gatens said. "If you come in here, it's going to be you or me, and I'll see to it that it won't be me!"Deputies searched the property, but the suspect had escaped. Gatens is encouraging her neighbors to keep a close eye out for suspicious characters while keeping a sense of humor about the incident."Maybe they break in to get one of my cookie jars, reckon? See if I had cookies in all of them," she said, laughing.

A West Virginia grandmother scared off a would-be home intruder on Christmas Eve.


WSAZ reports self-described "tough old lady" Yvonda "Bonnie" Gatens woke up in the early hours of the morning to hear someone trying to pry open her bedroom window.

She called 911, grabbed her gun and set out to confront the suspect.

"I come up right here, real quietly (and said) 'get ready to die,' and he went this side, he just fell over," Gatens recalls, laughing.

She insists the gun was cocked and she was ready to open fire.

"Right at the foot of my bed? I mean, give me a break," Gatens said. "If you come in here, it's going to be you or me, and I'll see to it that it won't be me!"

Deputies searched the property, but the suspect had escaped. Gatens is encouraging her neighbors to keep a close eye out for suspicious characters while keeping a sense of humor about the incident.

"Maybe they break in to get one of my cookie jars, reckon? See if I had cookies in all of them," she said, laughing.