12-year-old shoots intruder with mom's gun

CALERA, Okla. (WHDH) -- A 12-year-old girl in Oklahoma was home alone when an intruder broke in and she was forced to take action.

She went to the blinds to get a closer look at the man at her door. Then, 32-year-old Stacey Jones began pounding on her door. Scared and worried, she called her mom.

"She said 'mom I think he's going to the back door', and I said you go get the gun and you get in my closet right now and call 9-1-1,” said mother, Debra St. Clair.

"I was sitting there in the closet really scared holding the gun, not knowing what was going to happen. When he turned the door handle, I shot toward him with my mom's gun and it hit him, right here in the arm,” said victim, Kendra St. Clair.

After she shot Jones in the shoulder, he ran out of the home. She stayed on the phone with 9-1-1 operators the entire time she was in the closet, and did not come out until they said it was okay.

"I was shaking. I didn't know what to do. I was kind of hesitant about the whole thing. The whole time I was scared and sad and I was crying. I couldn't believe it was happening,” said Kendra.

She’s being called a hero for her bravery. Although severely shaken, the girl was able to remain calm and think logically.

"She has set a good example. I don't know of many women or men or young girls who would have been able to do what she did today,” said Debra St. Clair.

She attributed her actions to her mother.

"She helped me be calm and that everything was going to be ok, and that I knew exactly what to do because I was brave."

The suspect was treated at the hospital and is being held on felony burglary charges.