Brave 12-year-old wakes up to find burglar in her room, grabs kitchen knife and scares him off

LAKE WALES, Fla. -- (KSWB) -- Paris Hall, 12, says she was terrified to wake up Monday morning to find a burglar in her room. But, she will also tell you she remained calm, cool, and collected.

Her grandparents think her calm demeanor helped keep her safe. Paris thinks so too.

“I feel like if I would've got scared, he would've got scared,” Hall told ABC Action News reporter Michael Paluska.

Hall was home alone and said she heard her light switch turn on around 9 a.m. Monday morning. At first, she thought a family member was in her room. Then she saw a man she didn't recognize.

“I had rolled over and I seen some stranger looking behind my TV so I was kind of confused and said 'excuse me what are you doing?' I had an old phone that doesn't work, it was sitting on my dresser. So, I guess, he looked at that and made up an excuse; 'Oh my uncle told me to come get my phone' and in my mind, I was thinking OK. I guess my granddad must be his uncle.”

She still told the man to leave. When he went out the back door she was even more confused. Then she saw the kitchen window was shattered.

“I put two and two together and figured my granddad wasn't his uncle,” Paris said. “I was very scared at that point I didn't know what to do.”

She called for help. Her granddad told her to run to a neighbors house and call 911. When she ran out the front door the man was waiting for her.