12-Year-Old Locks Self In Bedroom, Calls For Help During Midvale Home Invasion
Mar 16, 2021, 11:22 PM | Updated: Mar 17, 2021, 12:16 am
MIDVALE, Utah – A family was hoping Tuesday someone would be able to identify a man who kicked in their front door during a home invasion burglary, leaving a 12-year-old girl to take cover inside her bedroom and call for help.
Mother Emma Schilling said her daughter, Lula Schilling, called her frantically just before noon Monday to tell her someone was going through their townhouse.
“It was terrifying, absolutely terrifying — longest seven-minute drive of my life,” said Emma Schilling, who immediately scrambled home.
Lula Schilling said she heard what initially sounded like a powerful knock and then suddenly figured out it was something different.
“I heard the door break open, (I) closed the (bedroom) door and locked it,” she said. “I heard him go through stuff, opening drawers.”
Behind her locked bedroom door, Schilling was quietly able to call her mother and then the police.
By the time her mother got there, officers were out front.
The suspect had already escaped with guns, jewelry and cash, Emma Schilling said.
“(The officer said) ‘somebody kicked in your front door — which I couldn’t believe in the middle of the day with cameras,’” she said.
Shortly before the door was kicked in, the front door camera captured a man in dark clothing with a surgical mask knocking at the door and ringing the doorbell.
Then, Schilling said it appeared the unknown man spotted an outdoor utility box and was able to cut power to her townhome, neutralizing the cameras and other security features she had in place.
“That’s a scary person,” Schilling said. “(It) doesn’t make me feel very good.”
Schilling said large developments like hers should consider keeping outside utility boxes under lock to help guard against a scenario like this one.
A spokesperson said the Unified Police Department was investigating the case. Anybody with information was asked to call dispatch at 801-743-7000.
“I don’t think I ever (shook) so much,” Lula Schilling said. “It’s pretty messed up what he did.”
Emma Schilling said she was proud of her daughter for doing everything right during a bad situation.
“She was much more brave than me,” she smiled.
