Cat alerts college students to intruder inside apartment in Virginia
RICHMOND-PETERSBURG, Virginia -- When an intruder forced his way into Nicole Morris' apartment, she said it was her cat who kept her and her roommate safe.
The Virginia Commonwealth University student said they are lucky to have avoided injury after someone they didn't know made his way into a bedroom where her roommate was sleeping, WRIC-TV reports.
"He stood in this doorway, right here into my roommate's room and just kind of watched her sleep for a second," Morris said.
But Kahlua, Morris' pet cat, knew instinctively that something was wrong.
Morris said Kahlua freaked out at the sight of the stranger, and it was the cat's commotion that woke her roommate up.
"I don't think [the suspect] seemed like...he seemed too confused, he seemed almost like apologetic actually when he walked in," Morris said, "and so we're assuming that he was maybe looking for one specific item, maybe just some cash."
The suspect ran from the home and an alert was issued by VCU to be on the lookout.
Ishma El, who has lived in the area for 12 years, said he was alarmed when he learned of the intruder.
"It reminds you to always be safe and lock your doors and always keep a lookout for any dangers whatsoever, that could be whether you're in this neighborhood, somewhere else, wherever," El said.
Morris said the frightening situation taught all the women in that apartment a valuable lesson. She believes the lacrosse teammates she lives with may have left a back door unlocked, giving the intruder an easy entrance.
"We got really lucky that it wasn't anything too serious because it could have gone a completely different way," Morris said.
