Mich. Mother Wakes Up to Find Stranger in Her Attic and Calls Police

A Michigan mother was shocked when she woke up in the morning to find not her boyfriend, but a stranger in the attic of her home.

Ashley Strong told local Fox affiliate WSYM-TV that the incident happened on Tuesday, Jan. 21, at around 6:00 a.m. local time when she woke up and discovered the stairs to her attic had been opened.

“I was thinking maybe [my boyfriend] had come home early from work [or] David’s son, maybe,” she recalled to the outlet. “I pulled down the stairs… and I started to climb up them, and I said ‘What the?’… and then it wasn’t [my boyfriend’s] voice that responded.”

Strong said she instead found an unknown man inside the attic. She claimed the man had his “back toward” her and his “hood” up. She further claimed he “reached behind” and put his hand behind his back waistband, prompting her to question him on whether he had a gun. 

However, she said she didn’t find out, as she sprung into action to get herself and her daughter, who was asleep at the time, to safety.  

“When I thought that was a gun, I just didn’t know if my daughter and I were going to be okay by the time the cops got there,” she said.

Strong added, “I folded up the attic stairs and I slammed it shut, and I just stood there and I screamed ‘run’ to my daughter.”

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Strong and her daughter safely exited their home and waited for officers from the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office to arrive. Once the officers arrived, they removed the man and took him into custody.

The man who was allegedly in the attic has not been identified. According to WSYM, he was charged with home invasion and assaulting a police officer.

The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s inquiry into the incident. 

Strong claimed she doesn’t know how the man got in and told the outlet that it would take some time before she felt safe inside her home again, saying, “Right now it doesn’t [feel safe]. At all… it messes with you.”

However, she added that she was thankful she was able to get her daughter out of the house safely, adding, “I think any parent in that scenario would be thankful that their kids got out even if they didn’t.”