MARIETTA, Ga. — Police say a masked intruder attacked a family today in their Marietta apartment as three kids got ready for school, forcing the children into a back room before he sexually assaulted their mother Tuesday morning.
"It’s horrible. I mean, I stay right next door in the building next and I have two children so,” resident Toquoia Poplar said.
Neighbors saw the small army of police outside building 300 and word quickly spread of the home invasion.
Police say the masked intruder got into the apartment through an unlocked front door… herded the three children, all under the age of 10 into a back room then sexually assaulted their mother.
Someone called 911 and police were there within minutes.
"The 911 dispatcher gave a lookout of the suspect and during the time the officers arrived on scene they spotted a man similar to the description given on the radio,” Officer David Baldwin with the Marietta Police Department said.
Police detained him for questioning, the mother was rushed to the hospital for treatment and the kids were said to okay but shaken up.
Police were trying to figure out why the suspect targeted the family.
"Because the suspect was wearing a mask at this point we don't know if the victim knew the assailant or didn't,” Baldwin said.
The unanswered questions worried those inside the Sprawling 1250 West complex, who were wondering, if the suspect was still out there, if they should be sticking around.
"Because I have two kids, so if there's going to be home invasions then I'm not going to be staying here no longer," Poplar said.
Police are still investigating the incident.