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Kelowna woman stabbed, attacked by woman in her own home

Click to play video: 'Kelowna woman recovering from stabbing after random home invasion'
Kelowna woman recovering from stabbing after random home invasion
Warning: Images in this story are disturbing. A Kelowna woman is sharing her story about being attacked inside her own home. She's now in hospital, recovering from multiple stab wounds sustained during what police are calling a "home invasion." Victoria Femia reports. – Sep 9, 2024

A Kelowna, B.C., woman is sharing her story about being attacked by a stranger in her home.

Tanya Gonzales is still in the hospital after being attacked on Saturday afternoon.

She was stabbed multiple times during what police have described as a home invasion.

“Still in pain and in shock but better than yesterday,” Gonzales told Global News on Monday.

“As far as I remember we were just moving desks outside, going to the basement where our room was.”

Gonzales left a door open at their Kelgen Crescent home and that is when police say the suspect attacked Gonzales before being confronted by another family member.

A few hours later, 24-year-old Morgan Marie Smith was arrested and later charged with aggravated assault.

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She remains in custody and is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday.

Click to play video: 'Suspicious fire destroys Kelowna house'
Suspicious fire destroys Kelowna house

Marie Escabarte lives with Gonzales and said the experience has left the whole family shaken.

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“The first night we slept around 5 a.m.,” she said. “We were all just waiting in the dining room for morning to come.”

Escabarte said she had no idea why the attack happened.

She said her children saw Gonzales after the attack when she was bleeding from her wounds.

“She was stabbed five times,” Escabarte said.

She added that they are considering moving after what happened as they feel so unsafe.

Click to play video: 'Kelowna neighbours concerned with temporary housing development'
Kelowna neighbours concerned with temporary housing development

Bonnie Mackenzie lives in the area.

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“It’s a little bit frightening,” she said. “Yeah. I think this is a safe neighbourhood.”

Kaytlyn Greeno was home on Saturday afternoon and saw some of the police activity on her street.

“There was probably about, I want to say, eight to 10 cop cars,” she said. “Half of them were undercover, the other half were regular cop cars. And then the ambulance showed up probably five minutes after that. But they had a police officer and a K-9 out there out looking around for whatever they were looking for.

“It was kind of crazy.”

RCMP told Global News they will not be commenting until after the suspect appears in court.

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