ORLANDO, Fla. – A 69-year-old woman shot and killed an intruder Sunday afternoon during a home invasion in Orange County, according to sheriff’s officials.
The fatal shooting happened around 12:30 p.m. in the 6500 block of Bentwood Street, near Colonial Drive and Semoran Boulevard.
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The Orange County Sheriff’s Office said deputies were called to a burglary in progress and found a man in who had been shot by the homeowner. Deputies later identified the man as 38-year-old Ezequiel Rosario-Torres.
The man was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, deputies said. His name has not been released.
“I feel sorry for his family, but I had to do what I had to do,” said Virginia Morrison, who owns the home.
The sheriff’s office told News 6 that the man entered the home and startled Morrison, who asked the man to leave. She shot the man when he refused to leave the property, according to deputies.
Morrison, who is cooperating with investigators, told detectives that she had never seen the man before.
“Something wasn’t right with the man,” she said, adding that he didn’t say a word. “He had a blank look on his face.”
She said she thought her fiance was outside, so the door to the house was unlocked.
Morrison said the stranger stepped inside so she asked him who he was and what he wanted, but he did not respond.
“I said, ‘I’m getting my damn gun.’ So I went to my bedroom and got my gun and I went out the back door and I came to the fence and he sees me and he starts toward me,” Morrison said. “I fired a shot above him, then said, ‘Back off, dude. I’ll shoot you.’ And he kept coming toward me, so I shot him.”
Morrison said it was the first time she’s ever used her gun.
“Keep your doors locked. Anybody can walk into your house now,” she said. “I killed a man. I didn’t intend to do that. I’m trying to protect me and (my fiance).”
The state attorney’s office will determine whether charges will be filed in the case.
An investigation is ongoing.