Mom Who Shot Intruder: 'I Did What I Had to Do to Protect My Children'

A Palm Coast, Florida, mother who shot an alleged intruder Monday afternoon told reporters she grabbed a gun and did what she thought was necessary to protect her children.

FOX 35 Orlando reported that 33-year-old Michael McDonald allegedly made entry into the residence around 1:30 p.m. and demanded money. The mother, who was home with her children, claimed McDonald threatened them as well.

The mother told McDonald to leave or she would shoot and, when he refused her orders, she shot him.

McDonald fled the scene and was later apprehended at a hospital.

WESH quoted the mother saying, “I was scared, and they [the children] were scared, and I just, you know, did what I had to do to protect me and my children.”

She indicated she had bought a gun for protection about six months prior and had never used it until Monday.

Chief Deputy Joe Barile commented on the incident, saying, “If you’re going to force yourself into someone’s house and be aggressive, be prepared to get shot.”

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He holds a PhD in Military History with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. He enjoys reading Philosophy and novels by Jack Carr and Nelson DeMille. He is a lever action man in an AR-15 world. Follow him on X: @awrhawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.