A PREGNANT mum wielding an AR-15 assault rifle shot dead an armed home intruder – saving the lives of her battered husband and daughter.
Hero mother Casey King opened fire after two masked men burst into her family home in Lithia, Florida, last week.
The would-be robbers launched a brutal attack on her husband Jeremy King – smashing his head with the butt of a pistol and leaving him with severe injuries.
They also violently grabbed the couple’s 11-year-old daughter as they demanded money during the terrifying rampage, which was first reported by Bay News 9 on Friday.
Mr King, who has been left with facial fractures and cuts that needed 20 stitches in his head, said: “They came in heavily hooded and masked.
“As soon as they had got the back door opened, they had a pistol on me and was grabbing my 11-year-old daughter.”
The robbers then pistol-whipped King and kicked him while wife Casey – who is eight months pregnant – retreated into the bedroom.
Mr King added: “When he came toward the back door in her line of sight, she clipped him.
“He made it from my back door to roughly 200 feet out in the front ditch before the AR [rifle] did its thing.”
Police said in a press conference that they found the man’s dead body lying in the ditch nearby.
The second suspect is still on the loose.
Bruised Mr King said he took a “severe beating” – but credited his wife for saving him.
He said: “I’ve got a fractured eye socket, a fractured sinus cavity, a concussion, 20 stitches and three staples in my head.
“Them guys came in with two normal pistols and my AR stopped it.
“[My wife] evened the playing field and kept them from killing me.”
The sheriff’s office added that the firearm was in the home legally.
