FERGUS FALLS, MN – A chilling home invasion captured on video has left a mother and her young daughter in a state of fear and disbelief. The intruder, armed with a loaded rifle, entered the residence and began pacing the living room, leaving the family dog barking furiously while the mother, Olivia Lumpky, desperately tried to protect her child.
The bizarre incident unfolded when the shirtless and barefoot man, later identified as Kelly Zent, wandered through Lumpky’s home, peering through windows and erratically flipping light switches. Despite being the intruder, he was heard shouting for help, further heightening the confusion and terror inside the house.
Lumpky, recalling the harrowing encounter, said, “I ran out of my bedroom and saw this man I didn’t know with a gun in his hand. I screamed, and he told me to be quiet.” In a frantic attempt to secure her home, Lumpky retreated to her bedroom to call 911. However, Zent forcibly entered her bedroom by breaking down the door with the rifle’s barrel.
As the situation intensified, Lumpky found herself pleading with Zent as he attempted to enter her daughter’s bedroom. “I wanted to do everything I could to protect her,” she said, recalling the overwhelming fear of having an armed stranger in her home.
Authorities arrived 22 minutes later, apprehending Zent, whose family disclosed that he suffers from severe paranoia and was not taking his prescribed medication. Despite the gravity of the intrusion, Zent spent only three days in jail, a sentence related to a probation violation for a previous DWI charge.
Astonishingly, Zent lives just down the street from Lumpky, raising concerns about the safety of her family. “It’s just wild that you can enter someone’s home with a loaded gun and be released,” Lumpky remarked, showing the proximity of Zent’s home to hers.
Lumpky admitted that the fear of a repeat incident keeps her on edge. “I wake up in a pool of sweat pretty much every night. I definitely feel helpless,” she said, voicing her anxiety about the potential for another encounter.
Zent now faces charges of burglary and assault and is scheduled to appear in court next Tuesday. As the community grapples with the incident, questions about the adequacy of the legal system’s response remain.