St. Petersburg Police said a woman shot an intruder on Thursday morning.
Officer said it happened around 6:13 a.m. along 24th Avenue South in St. Petersburg. Mary Shirley was on her computer when she heard a noise toward the front of her house.
"I saw this foot hanging in my window and I'm like 'I'm going to get my gun. I'm going to get my gun' and he was still coming in," Shirley said.
She fired her husband's revolver once after warning the burglar. She said she had never used it before.
"Then I said 'I'm going to call the police'. Then I shot again and then like {he said} 'open the door. open the door'," Shirley said.
She said he was persistent and she believed firing her weapon was her only choice.
"I'm like 'you crazy. Are you crazy?' And then the next thing I heard, he was taking off," Shirley said.
Shirley did not know at the time she actually hit Timothy Tugman. St. Petersburg detectives found him collapsed on the sidewalk around the corner from Shirley's home.
"You never think this would happen to you," Shirley said.
Shirley said she relied on her faith this morning.
"It's not fun, but you have to do what you have to do to protect yourself," Shirley said.
Tugman was taken to Bayfront Health St. Petersburg and then was transferred to the jail. He is charged with occupied residential burglary.
----------------------------
STAY IN TOUCH WITH US ANYTIME, ANYWHERE
Download our free app for Apple and Android and Kindle devices.
Sign up for Breaking News email alerts.
WATCH | Latest ABC Action News Videos | WATCH | ABC Action News Live Stream
