It helps if the safety is off...

A home-invasion robber died after struggling with the couple whose window he had kicked in.

Shelly Laughman, 36, said she tried to lock the front door after the 44-year-old suspect punched it Sunday night, but the man, whose name was not immediately released, kicked in a plastic window and clawed in.

"He had a crazy look in his eyes," she said, "and he mumbled something that sounded like I'm not here to hurt you."

She screamed for her sleeping husband, Paul, 52. He wrestled with the man while his wife called police and retrieved a shotgun.

With the gun pointed at him, the man was released and told to leave, but the couple said he rushed again. Shelly Laughman aimed the shotgun and pulled the trigger, but it didn't fire because the safety was still on.

Eventually, Paul Laughman and a neighbor subdued the man again and police arrived.

The man continued to fight with officers, and collapsed while being walked to a patrol car.

Police said they tried to resuscitate the man and called rescue workers, but he was pronounced dead at Halifax Medical Center.

"No weapon of any kind was used by police," said police Lt. C.H. Fordham at the scene.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement will investigate the cause of death.

"I have no idea why he picked our yard," Shelly Laughman said. "That guy could've killed us, and I would've killed him if I could get that safety off."

The body, under stress, reacts as it has been trained. A little something called muscle memory. If she would have gotten used to the shotgun before this situation, then she would have instinctively been able to thumb the safety off and fire. It did work out in the end, and she is left without a nasty cleaning bill.