Local

'It's go time. Do or die,' Altamonte Springs woman fights off home invaders armed with AK-47

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. — An Altamonte Springs woman fought off two men who stormed into her apartment with an AK-47 and tried to rob her—who are now behind bars, according to an arrest report.

Angel Delgado Santiago, 30, and Jorge Montanez, 17, are facing robbery charges in connection to the home invasion on Rose Petal Place early Saturday, police said.

The victim, who asked to be called by her nickname Trigger, said she was fighting to save not only her own life, but also to protect her 13-year-old son and ex-wife.

"I went blank. I had no feeling. I wasn't scared. I wasn't brave. I was just -- it's go time. Do or die,” said Trigger.

Body camera video from Altamonte Springs police shows the takedown of Santiago and Montanez, who police said pointed an AK-47 at the family shortly after midnight.

Trigger, who got her nickname from her gun collection, said she left her gun in her car when she went back inside her apartment to grab her cell phone.

"I heard like a boom, boom, boom. People coming up the stairs. Then I heard her screaming, lock yourselves in the room! They're coming! They got guns!" said Trigger.

Trigger stood unarmed with two armed men surrounding her and her family.

“When I seen the barrel of the gun, I swear it felt like a movie,” she said.

Trigger made a split-second decision and tried to wrestle the AK-47 away from the suspect.

"I noticed that the guy started getting nervous. His fingers getting crazy on the trigger. And I just disarmed it. I just completely took out the magazine from the AK,” she said.

They struggled over the gun and the two men eventually ran out, with one firing shots at Trigger’s ex-wife on his way out. No one was hit.

"They just didn't know I was going to fight back. That's what they didn't know,” said Trigger.