Two days ago my home was invaded. My mom and I were home. My mom had surgery last week and has been recovering. Usually I am home alone during the day, but because she has been recovering she has been home during the day. If she hadn't had her surgery I would have been alone with my pet cat when the robbers broke in.
My mom was the one who heard them turning the doorknob and by the time I came out of my bedroom (we were on the second level in a 2 story house) I heard the robbers kicking in the door to get in. I tried to grab my cat who was in the room with me, but he jumped out of my arms and ran.
I ran out of my room behind my mom and the robbers broke in by shooting the door. The sound of the gunshot filled the entire house and I thought they were going to shoot us. We ran into another bedroom, locked the door, and hid behind the bed. My mom was on the phone with the emergency operator pleading for them to hurry and send the police.
I kept thinking about the robbers killing my cat if they found him or my cat running out of the house (he is an indoor cat and never goes outside. He didn't have a collar on at the time so if he ran away no one could identify him). I also thought of the robbers coming upstairs, kicking in the bedroom door, and shooting my mom and I. We were so scared. My mom's stitches from her surgery came out from us being huddled behind the bed. At one point she covered me to protect me just in case they came in and shot us.
The police came 7 minutes later and yelled for the robbers to come out with their hands or they would shoot. We were so scared to speak that my mom's voice was cracking when she yelled, "We're in here" to let the police know where we were hiding. An officer told us it was okay to come out and my mom came out of the bedroom. I followed behind her expecting to see all of our belongings gone or my cat gone. Fortunately, absolutely nothing was stolen and my cat ran to hide under my bed. I grabbed him, hugged him, and immediately put his collar on and put him his cat carrier. My bedroom was a mess though because the police had to search to make sure no one was hiding in the closets or under the bed.
But at that point I didn't care. I just wanted to leave and not be in the house. I was so scared I was in shock. My mom started crying and all of our neighbors came out to see what happened. One neighbor told us the robbers held another neighbor's visitors at gun point and stole their phones, wallets, and watches. I eventually started crying and hugged my mom. I didn't know if we'd make it. It happened so fast that the only thing we could do was run and hide, but we had no escape. If we wanted to get out we would have to jump out of the window onto pavement and neither of us could do that.
After the police left we had someone come and fix our door. A relative came and picked me and my cat up to stay at their home for a few days. The night I got to their house I couldn't sleep. I kept crying as I thought about how scared my mom was and how she tried to protect me. I also thought about how they could have killed us because they had a gun and were not afraid to use it. I also felt horrible for not being able to hold onto my cat when we ran into the bedroom and was so worried he was hurt or ran away.
My mom has not been able to sleep and does not like being home alone, and neither do I. We're afraid of it happening again and my family and I are looking to move. I felt really helpless, sad, and angry. My mom wants me to go to counseling with her and I said I will. I'm trying to focus on other things like school and work, but every time I think of being in the house I feel sick and like my life is in danger. I'm not sure how to feel safe again at home.
My mom was the one who heard them turning the doorknob and by the time I came out of my bedroom (we were on the second level in a 2 story house) I heard the robbers kicking in the door to get in. I tried to grab my cat who was in the room with me, but he jumped out of my arms and ran.
I ran out of my room behind my mom and the robbers broke in by shooting the door. The sound of the gunshot filled the entire house and I thought they were going to shoot us. We ran into another bedroom, locked the door, and hid behind the bed. My mom was on the phone with the emergency operator pleading for them to hurry and send the police.
I kept thinking about the robbers killing my cat if they found him or my cat running out of the house (he is an indoor cat and never goes outside. He didn't have a collar on at the time so if he ran away no one could identify him). I also thought of the robbers coming upstairs, kicking in the bedroom door, and shooting my mom and I. We were so scared. My mom's stitches from her surgery came out from us being huddled behind the bed. At one point she covered me to protect me just in case they came in and shot us.
The police came 7 minutes later and yelled for the robbers to come out with their hands or they would shoot. We were so scared to speak that my mom's voice was cracking when she yelled, "We're in here" to let the police know where we were hiding. An officer told us it was okay to come out and my mom came out of the bedroom. I followed behind her expecting to see all of our belongings gone or my cat gone. Fortunately, absolutely nothing was stolen and my cat ran to hide under my bed. I grabbed him, hugged him, and immediately put his collar on and put him his cat carrier. My bedroom was a mess though because the police had to search to make sure no one was hiding in the closets or under the bed.
But at that point I didn't care. I just wanted to leave and not be in the house. I was so scared I was in shock. My mom started crying and all of our neighbors came out to see what happened. One neighbor told us the robbers held another neighbor's visitors at gun point and stole their phones, wallets, and watches. I eventually started crying and hugged my mom. I didn't know if we'd make it. It happened so fast that the only thing we could do was run and hide, but we had no escape. If we wanted to get out we would have to jump out of the window onto pavement and neither of us could do that.
After the police left we had someone come and fix our door. A relative came and picked me and my cat up to stay at their home for a few days. The night I got to their house I couldn't sleep. I kept crying as I thought about how scared my mom was and how she tried to protect me. I also thought about how they could have killed us because they had a gun and were not afraid to use it. I also felt horrible for not being able to hold onto my cat when we ran into the bedroom and was so worried he was hurt or ran away.
My mom has not been able to sleep and does not like being home alone, and neither do I. We're afraid of it happening again and my family and I are looking to move. I felt really helpless, sad, and angry. My mom wants me to go to counseling with her and I said I will. I'm trying to focus on other things like school and work, but every time I think of being in the house I feel sick and like my life is in danger. I'm not sure how to feel safe again at home.
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