72-Year Old Woman Shoots Intruder Attacking Her Friend

On October 7, a 72-year old South Carolina woman shot a man after he broke into her home and started beating her friend with a baseball bat.

According to ABC 4 WTAE, 54-year old Richard Keese broke into Francis Ward’s home at 3 PM and began assaulting the women. When Ward’s friend grabbed a baseball bat to defend herself, Keese took it from her and begin beating her with it. 

At that point, Ward retrieved a handgun and shot Keese in the head. 

Ward only “grazed” Keese’s head but the it ended the assault. Ward said if Keese hadn’t been moving around she would have hit him with a more solid shot “because [she] was aiming for his forehead.” She said Keese “was beating the daylights out of [her friend] with that ball bat and [she] wasn’t going to let that happen.”

Both Ward and her friend were taken to the hospital for treatment once deputies arrived on the scene.

Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter @AWRHawkins.