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Pregnant Florida Woman Uses AR-15 to Shoot Armed Intruder

After two men broke in and began pistol-whipping her husband, the woman, who is eight months pregnant, fired a shot from the family's AR-15-style rifle

A pregnant woman defended her home in Lithia, Florida, with a legally-owned semi-automatic rifle when two invaders broke in and began attacking her husband, authorities said.

Hillsborough County Sherriff's spokeswoman Amanda Granit told NBC News that the confrontation took place around 9 p.m. Wednesday on Old Welcome Road about 25 miles southeast of downtown Tampa.

After the two men broke in and began beating her husband with their pistols, the woman, who is eight months pregnant, fired a shot from the family's AR-15-style rifle. Both intruders immediately fled, and the one that had been wounded by the gunshot collapsed and died in a drainage ditch outside, according to deputies and the woman's husband.

Homeowner Jeremy King said he'd be dead if not for his fast-thinking wife. He said both home invaders had pistols and they fired one shot.

"Them guys came in with two normal pistols and my AR stopped it," King told Bay News 9. "(My wife) evened the playing field and kept them from killing me."

King suffered a fractured eye socket, a fractured sinus cavity and a concussion to go along with 20 stitches from the attack.

The couple's 11-year-old daughter was also at home during the confrontation.

Hillsborough County Sheriff Maj. Frank Losat told reporters on the scene that he suspected the family had been targeted.

The dead robber was not immediately identified, and deputies are still searching for his partner in crime.

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