Pregnant Florida woman shoots and kills home intruder attacking husband with pistol

A Florida woman who is eight months pregnant used a semi-automatic rifle to shoot and kill one of two men who broke into her home last week, authorities say.

Deputies called to a home in Lithia, Fla., around 8:44 p.m. on Oct. 30 discovered one of the male suspects dead at the scene, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said in a press release.

Responding officers were told by the residents, who were later identified as Jeremy King and his pregnant wife, that two men broke into their house and made demands before attacking King, reportedly pistol-whipping him in the face.

“They came in heavily hooded and masked," King, who suffered a fractured eye socket and sinus cavity and required stitches after the attack, told CNN-affiliate Bay News 9. "As soon as they had got the back door opened, they had a pistol on me and [were] grabbing my 11-year-old daughter."

King claimed his wife, whose name has not been released, heard the commotion from a bedroom in the back of their home and peered out before one of the gunmen shot at her.

She then allegedly armed herself with an AR-15 and returned fire, wounding one of the gunmen fatally and causing the other to flee the scene.

"(The suspects) 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."

Hillsborough County Sheriff's Maj. Frank Losat told reporters that the firearm the woman used was in the home legally and that she only discharged one round.

Detectives say they do not believe the attack was random and ask anyone with information on the case to call the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office at (813) 247-8200.