An octogenarian homeowner foiled an alleged robbery in the Baldwin Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles when he shot at two suspects making their way into his house, police said.

Jack Goodwin, 87, said he was in the bed Tuesday night when he heard a noise. "It was two guys busting the window out, coming in" his second bedroom, he told KABC-TV.

Goodwin, an Army marksman during World War II, said he grabbed a 9 mm pistol that he'd bought 20 years ago - but kept close by - and shot twice. Then he called the police.

One suspect was shot and critically wounded, according to a news release Wednesday from the Los Angeles Police Department. The other suspect is still at large.

Goodwin, who has lived in the neighborhood for nearly 40 years, said his home had been broken into several times but he was always away.

The community, he told KABC-TV, has experienced burglaries, car thefts and shootings but he has not placed iron bars on his windows.

The news release said Goodwin was "acting in self-defense" and was not expected to be charged with a crime.

"If you attack me, well, what do you expect back?" he said. "If I was attacking somebody, I would expect them to do me the same way."