{"id":252577,"date":"2026-06-17T11:26:20","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T16:26:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/?p=252577"},"modified":"2026-06-18T11:36:03","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T16:36:03","slug":"florida-mom-shoots-home-intruder-protects-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/florida-mom-shoots-home-intruder-protects-kids\/","title":{"rendered":"Mom Defends Kids From Alleged Career Criminal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-yoast-seo-estimated-reading-time yoast-reading-time__wrapper\"><span class=\"yoast-reading-time__icon\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" data-icon=\"clock\" width=\"20\" height=\"20\" fill=\"none\" stroke=\"currentColor\" style=\"display:inline-block;vertical-align:-0.1em\" role=\"img\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\"><path stroke-linecap=\"round\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\" stroke-width=\"2\" d=\"M12 8v4l3 3m6-3a9 9 0 11-18 0 9 9 0 0118 0z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/span><span class=\"yoast-reading-time__spacer\" style=\"display:inline-block;width:1em\"><\/span><span class=\"yoast-reading-time__descriptive-text\">Estimated reading time: <\/span><span class=\"yoast-reading-time__reading-time\">3<\/span><span class=\"yoast-reading-time__time-unit\"> minutes<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-\"><\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p>A Florida mother found herself in every parent&#8217;s nightmare Sunday afternoon when a man allegedly forced his way into her home and threatened her family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fortunately, she was armed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to reporting by <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox35orlando.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"florida-mom-shoots-home-intruder-protects-kids\" title=\"Mom Defends Kids From Alleged Career Criminal\">Fox 35 Orlando,<\/a><\/em> the incident happened in Palm Coast when Michael McDonald allegedly opened the woman&#8217;s garage, banged on windows, and then entered the home through the front door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Mother shoots intruder after alleged threats to her and children\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/hIWVnkcywIQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Inside were the mother and her two children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The woman, identified as a friend of McDonald&#8217;s sister, told reporters she quickly realized the situation was turning dangerous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;I panicked and got my gun,&#8221; she said. &#8220;That was my first time using it.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Investigators say McDonald demanded money and threatened the woman and her children after entering the residence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The mother reportedly warned him multiple times that she would shoot if he didn&#8217;t leave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to her account, McDonald responded, &#8220;I don&#8217;t care. Shoot me.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That&#8217;s exactly the kind of statement that sounds tough right up until somebody actually pulls the trigger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-see-also-this-custom-platypus-shoots-like-a-cheat-code\">SEE ALSO: <a href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/stealth-arms-platypus-custom-build-review\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"florida-mom-shoots-home-intruder-protects-kids\" title=\"Mom Defends Kids From Alleged Career Criminal\">This Custom Platypus Shoots Like a Cheat Code<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The woman told <em>Fox 35 <\/em>she fired a single shot, striking McDonald in the arm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;He took off,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Importantly, she emphasized she wasn&#8217;t trying to kill anyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;I was trying to get them out to where my children and I were safe in our house,&#8221; she explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Flagler County deputies later located McDonald at a nearby hospital, where he had reportedly gone seeking treatment for the gunshot wound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Authorities arrested him and charged him with burglary with assault.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to investigators, McDonald also has an extensive criminal history that includes grand theft and robbery-related offenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chief Deputy Joe Borelli said the case is a textbook example of why Florida&#8217;s Stand Your Ground protections exist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-see-also-6-father-s-day-gifts-every-gun-dad-wants\">SEE ALSO: <a href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/fathers-day-gifts-for-gun-dads\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"florida-mom-shoots-home-intruder-protects-kids\" title=\"Mom Defends Kids From Alleged Career Criminal\">6 Father\u2019s Day Gifts Every Gun Dad Wants<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;She&#8217;s in her own home,&#8221; Borelli said. &#8220;Someone comes in uninvited, refuses to leave, advances towards you, is aggressive towards you and your children.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He noted that the woman even gave the suspect a final warning before firing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;She had the right to defend herself. And she did.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cases like this are a reminder that defensive gun uses don&#8217;t always end with a criminal dead and a dramatic headline. Sometimes they end with a mother protecting her children, a suspect fleeing the scene, and everyone who belongs in the home going to bed safely that night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For this Palm Coast family, that&#8217;s exactly how it ended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Self-defense doesn\u2019t end when the threat goes down. That\u2019s when the real battle begins. Lawyers. Prosecutors. Headlines.\u00a0USCCA\u00a0Members never fight that battle alone.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.deltadefense.com\/offers\/?tID=68c088a02cce2&amp;utm_campaign=guns+america+sponsored+article+2&amp;utm_source=web+banner&amp;utm_medium=media+buy&amp;utm_content=direct+sales\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"florida-mom-shoots-home-intruder-protects-kids\" title=\"Mom Defends Kids From Alleged Career Criminal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Find out how.<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\" style=\"font-size:24px\"><strong><em>*** <a href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"florida-mom-shoots-home-intruder-protects-kids\" title=\"Mom Defends Kids From Alleged Career Criminal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Buy and Sell on GunsAmerica!<\/a> ***<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Florida mother found herself in every parent&#8217;s nightmare Sunday afternoon when a man allegedly forced his way into her home and threatened her family.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":158,"featured_media":252579,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_specdata_upc":"","_specdata_placement":"manual","footnotes":""},"categories":[4024],"tags":[132,291,607],"featured":[],"hunt365":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-252577","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-buzz","9":"tag-dgu","10":"tag-news"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.8 (Yoast SEO v27.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Florida Mom Shoots Home Intruder to Protect Kids<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A Florida mother shot an alleged intruder after he entered her home, threatened her family, and refused to leave, deputies say.\" 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