A University of Guelph student is ‘traumatized’ after an intruder broke into her house and entered her room just before 3 a.m. on Sunday.
The man she believes was in her bedroom was caught on video moments earlier trying to open her front door.
That night, the 22-year-old student was walking home with a friend to the basement apartment she shares with a roommate on Caledonia Street. Her friend was walking her home because she wasn’t feeling well, but ended up leaving not long after, not locking the door behind her.
Meanwhile, she curled up in bed for the night, watching Selling Sunset on TV with the lights turned off.
The student has asked her name not be used for safety reasons.
“I was kind of fading in and out because I wasn’t feeling well,” she said. “I messaged my roommate to see if she could feed my guinea pigs in the morning, so when I heard somebody coming in, I assumed maybe she wanted to check on me because I said I was sick.”
So when she heard the creak of the door, she assumed it was her roommate coming in.
“Then I saw somebody stand over my bed and look at me. I just went, 'hello?'” calling for her roommate.
“There was no reply. Then I heard the door creaking again, and my cats followed the person out.”
The TV was on, so the room was lit enough to see a person standing there but not bright enough to tell who it was.
She thought it was weird, and maybe her roommate had been sleepwalking.
Going out to the living room area, she found her mini fridge was open, as were the unit door and door to the street. Her purse was missing too.
“In the moment, I was so scared,” she said. She texted and called her roommate to see if that was her. When she got no response, she figured she was sleeping, and started to wonder whether she imagined the whole thing.
She called the police a few minutes later; they didn’t find anyone in the area.
But the next day, she was sent a video from her upstairs neighbours of a man pulling on their door at 2:40 a.m., just five minutes before he was standing in her room.
Now, she doesn’t feel safe in her own home, and has been staying at her parents’ house in Acton, commuting to school.
“I’m kind of traumatized. I’m staying with my parents right now until I feel ready to go back,” she said.
They installed an automatic lock so the door locks the second it’s closed, and she’s installing a lock on her bedroom door as well.
“I’m definitely experiencing some sort of PTSD. I haven’t been sleeping okay, and having nightmares all the time. Even just being on campus and being in Guelph, in the area, I’m just very anxious and on edge all the time.”
This happened just an hour before a similar incident in the same area, where another U of G student reported finding a male intruder in her room.
However, Guelph police spokesperson Scott Tracey said there is nothing to indicate the two incidents are related at this time.
