SULTAN, Wash. (AP) — An 80-year-old woman fatally shot a man who broke into her Sultan-area home and stabbed her husband, authorities said.

The woman called police around 8:30 p.m. Thursday saying she had just shot an intruder, according to Shari Ireton with the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office.

The woman told police the man broke in through a back door and that she heard a noise, went to investigate and saw a stranger standing over her husband holding a knife.

Merlin Halverson, Snohomish County Fire District 5 chief, told KOMO-TV the woman ran to a bedroom, dug around in a closet and came back with a gun.

"(She) comes out, fires several shots and kills him," Halverson said.

It appeared the man was looking for drugs, Halverson said, noting pill bottles near the man's body.

The suspected intruder, a 25-year-old man from Gold Bar, died at the scene, Ireton said.

Ireton said the woman's 75-year-old husband was flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle with abdominal stab wounds. He was in serious but stable condition Thursday night.

The woman was not injured and neither was the couple's 45-year-old son, who was in the home during the incident.

Detectives believe the man was attempting to burglarize the home and that he didn't know the residents.

The names of those involved have not been released.