‘I thought I was going to have to kill him’: Woman relives holiday nightmare

**WARNING** VIDEO IS GRAPHIC AND MAY BE DISTURBING FOR SOME VIEWERS

MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WMBF) - A South Carolina woman is still shaken up Saturday after a would-be intruder was caught-on-camera attempting to break into her Myrtle Beach home.

“I was standing on the other side of the door with my gun in hand,” said 30-year-old Savannah Brotherton. “I thought I was going to have to kill him.”

Brotherton said she was enjoying a quiet night at home making Christmas cookies when she heard a bang.

“I heard a loud bang but the mixer was going and the music was blaring and so then the phone chimed and said somebody was at the door and so that’s when I heard another bang and I knew something was not right because I don’t have unexpected visitors."

Brotherton said she just installed the home surveillance system just two days prior to the incident, saying she just wanted an extra set of eyes on her home.

The system displayed what was happening outside onto her phone.

“He was just throwing his body at my door and just ramming it and ramming it and ramming it. I mean the whole door has mud on it,” she said.

Brotherton described the scene as something out of “The Walking Dead.” She said the man was covered in mud from head and toe. She thought he fell in a ditch before arriving at her house.

Brotherton said she immediately sprung into action.

“I went for my protection and I stood there to defend myself,” she said. ““He was coming in. If he didn’t knock himself out he was getting in.”

Surveillance footage shows the man falling back against the porch. Later, the camera captures the man running off.

The woman says she called the Myrtle Beach Police who responded within 5 minutes.

According to MBPD, the responding officers found the man in a nearby ditch.

Cpl. Tom Vest said no arrests were made in the incident and the case is closed.

Vest explained intent is needed in order to charge someone with a crime and the man’s condition put his intent in doubt.

Vest said officers determined the man needed medical attention and he was transported to the hospital.

Brotherton said she thinks he did have an intent.

“He had an intent to do something,” she said. "Whether it was an intent to kill, an intent to rob, who knows what his intent was but there was something there.”

The door of her home is still covered in mud from the man and she said the video still creeps her out.

“This is our home. This isn’t just a tourist attraction. I mean there are people who live here every day," she said. "This is my home and I don’t want to have to defend myself behind my door.”

Brotherton said looking back she is thankful she knew how to defend herself but hopes she never has to do it again.

“I just started going and doing exactly what I needed to do and I wouldn’t change a thing," she reflected.

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