WTVM.com-Columbus, GA News Weather
Last Wednesday afternoon around 5pm, Decatur resident Timo Hernandez, 28, and his visiting mother were sitting down for a chili dinner when they heard a knock on the door.

“When I opened the door, these two guys stormed in with guns and started pistol-whipping me and took me to the ground,” Hernandez recounted to WTVM.

The homeowner said one of the intruders next targeted his mother.

“He started pistol whipping and kicking her in the side,” Hernandez described.

Fortunately, one intruder made the mistake of leading Hernandez to the extra bedroom where he kept his father’s old hunting rifle. That’s when the resident was able to turn the tables on his attacker.

“He put a gun to my head, and I just started fighting back.”

Hernandez grabbed the stashed gun and began firing at the two assailants, putting bullets in both and sending them fleeing out the door.

One intruder died in a neighbor’s yard, according to WTVM. The other attacker ended up crashing in the parking lot of a nearby Zaxby’s restaurant. “He remained in critical condition until passing Thursday from his wounds,” WTVM reports.

Upon finding badges and zip ties at the scene, police concluded the two appeared to be impersonating police officers.

Hernandez said he was grateful he had a gun in the house for protection.

“I feel like if I hadn’t had the gun in there, this whole news story would be about me and my mother being dead in this house,” he said.

Hernandez also apologized to the family of the men who died as a result of the bungled home invasion.

“I never want to hurt anybody like that, but they put me in a situation, and I only reacted to it,” he said. “It sucks that a man lost his life yesterday, but I had to protect my family.”

While Hernandez was able to protect his home, his mother subsequently suffered a heart attack after police arrived and remains hospitalized with no insurance.

Hernandez has started a GoFundMe account asking for donations to help pay for his mother’s medical bills.