RAY (AP) - A sheriff in northern Minnesota says a son who shot and killed an intruder was defending himself and his 72-year-old mother, who had been attacked by the man.

Koochiching County Sheriff Brian Jespersen says 34-year-old Benjamin Beaudoin of Mendota Heights came to the door of a home in Ray early Saturday asking for help. The sheriff says Beaudoin had been in an altercation at another house about a mile away and was bleeding.

Jespersen says when he entered the second house, Beaudoin grabbed the woman, threw her to the floor and started choking her. The woman's 48-year-old son went to get his gun in a bedroom where Beaudoin lunged at him and was shot.

Beaudoin was rushed to Rainy Lake Medical Center where he was later pronounced dead.

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