BOGOTA, Colombia -- Two nuns who made headlines when they shot an intruder in their convent were cleared of murder charges. "The nuns acted in legitimate self-defense," said a statement from the public prosecutor's office, ending a two-week investigation.

The cloistered sisters, Luz Adelia Barragan and Eva Maria Silva, admitted that on July 21 they took turns firing a .38-caliber pistol into the darkness after hearing an intruder. One killed a would-be burglar.

The nuns, who spent two nights in jail, said they had only meant to scare away the man who broke into the El Tobo convent in Tunja, 80 miles northeast of Bogota. Fed up with rampant violent crime rates, many Colombians said they sympathized with the nuns' actions.