Vietnam vet, 82, fights off armed home intruder who attacked wife: cops

A Vietnam veteran bludgeoned an armed home intruder with a shotgun on Monday after the suspect forced his way inside the South Carolina home and attacked his wife with a large knife, according to a report.

The suspect, identified as Harold Runnels, later died from his injuries.

"I started hitting him in the head with the barrel and I know I must have hit him at least ten times right in the face, just as hard as I could hit him," Herbert Parrish, 82, said, according to FOX 57 of Columbia, S.C.

Runnels knocked on their back door at about 2 p.m. to ask Parrish's wife if she had seen his white Chihuahua. At that point, he attacked her with the knife, according to the report.

Parrish said that he believed the suspect was going to kill them, so he decided to "do something quick and get the edge on him."

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The veteran said he grabbed a shotgun that was mounted on his wall and bludgeoned Runnels until he was unconscious.

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Runnels died at the Augusta University Medical Center Monday night from injuries sustained during the home invasion, a coroner told FOX 57. Herbert and his wife were also injured but are expected to recover. 

"I felt, we’re gone. He’s going to kill us and take what he can take," Parrish said.