Great-grandma, 80, guns down intruder after crowbar beating

SULTAN, WA -- An 80-year-old great-grandmother shot and killed a home intruder after he beat her husband with a crowbar.

When she saw her husband in distress, Barb Moles rushed to get her gun, a .38-caliber pistol. When the robber came around the corner, she shot him three times.

Deputies say the robber, 25-year-old Steven Sheppard, died at the scene. Investigators believe he intended to burglarize the Moles' home.

Barb's husband, John, has been in the hospital in the intensive care unit for the past week. Doctors were afraid he had a concussion, but he is expected to survive.

Barb said, "You know, never in my whole life did I ever anticipate having to take another life - especially at age 80. Give me a break here!"

But it's something Barb tells local station KOMO that she'd do again in a heartbeat to defend the family she loves. She said, "I felt like if I hadn't, my son and I might both be dead and my husband might have bled to death on the kitchen floor."