Florida mom defends her family in gunfight during armed home invasion
MIAMI - A Florida mom grabbed a pistol and got into a shootout with armed home invasion suspects who broke in while her husband, 7-year-old son and their friends were watching the NBA Finals.
Ansley Pacheco, 26, was in the bathroom when two men broke in, and forced her family and friends to the floor at gunpoint, WSVN reports.
Home surveillance video shows the suspects surprising a friend of Pacheco’s in the driveway before pushing him inside, where a group was watching the game.
RELATED: 19-year-old who shot and killed Florida K-9 asks judge for leniency after pleading guilty
The suspects made everyone in the living room get on the floor.
But another camera shows Pacheco in a bedroom. She grabs an object from a nightstand and can be heard yelling at the suspects.
“He started shooting at me, they shot at me about seven times, six, seven times," she recalled.
(Courtesy: WSVN)
She said her first instinct was to grab her gun and defend her family.
“My worry was my husband and my son. Honestly, I wasn’t scared,” Pacheco told WSVN. “It was just, my reaction was to get the gun and to defend. They could’ve killed me, and they could’ve killed my son."
In the video, she shouts, “Don’t shoot me, my son is in here,” then gunshots ring out as the suspects open fire.
RELATED: Coast Guard offloads nearly $86 million in cocaine, other narcotics in South Florida
After an exchange, the suspects reportedly fled, and Pacheco’s husband Daniel took the gun from her.
An exterior camera captured him chasing the suspects down the driveway before they sped off as more shots were fired. They reportedly stole watches and jewelry.
Miami-Dade police confirmed they responded to an armed home invasion robbery the night of Oct. 4 on 86th Avenue.
Pacheco told local outlets that she did not know the suspects, and they remain at large. Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers is offering a potential $1,000 reward in the case.
RELATED: Florida lawyer arrested in series of bank robberies near Miami, federal authorities say
Parts of the family's home could be seen riddled with bullet holes, including a closet door, a bathroom door, a bed headboard and the TV.
No one was injured – but the homeowner said that’s not the point.
“They could’ve killed me,” Pacheco told WSVN. “They could’ve killed my son. They were shooting right over his head. They didn’t care.”