She was reporting live when a stranger appeared behind her

Gretchen Koenen, a reporter with KSNT, found security in Facebook Live when a stranger began circling her during her live report.

Koenen was live reporting in west Topeka at about 10 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 15. After her report, she stayed to host a question-and-answer session on Facebook Live, titled “Walking Away from Westboro.”

During her session, a man approached her and began asking strange questions while circling her, Koenen posted on Facebook. He would not leave.

“I was absolutely terrified but didn’t want to show it,” she posted. “Truthfully, I was scared to turn off the live feed because I felt a sense of security knowing people were watching.”

The man can be seen in the video and heard asking her questions.

As she was streaming her session, co-workers began texting her to leave as soon as possible – they could see her concern.

Her anchor can be heard calling her in the live stream.

“I was told a Topeka Police Department was on the way and would be there any minute,” she posted. “No one ever came.”

That is when she grabbed her equipment and jogged to her car, according to her post.

“The man followed me, quickly,” she posted. “I could feel him right behind me the whole time.”

Koenen was able to get in her car and drove from the scene.

“To those who reached out to make sure I was okay, thank you,” she posted. “To my coworkers who stand in my shoes everyday and stood up for me tonight, thank you.”

Still, she was disappointed in her local police department.

“I am disappointed,” she posted. “Disappointed that the very police department that I defend and work side-by-side with never showed up for me. My coworkers said a call never even went across the scanner.”

About two hours after her report and when the call was made, at 12:16 a.m., Koenen updated her post with more information about why the police department never came.

She said dispatch received the call at 10:22 p.m. She was put into the system 44 seconds later, but as a non-emergency welfare check.

“At that point, it was in the system waiting to be assigned, but no one was assigned by the time I had driven off,” she posted.

In a Facebook post, the Topeka Police Department said that Koenen’s co-workers called back at 10:30 and said she “was in her vehicle, had left the area and PD could disregard.”

“We have reached out to Gretchen and she was appreciative,” it said. “We have reached out to KSNT as well toward a resolution.”

This story was originally published November 17, 2017 at 9:18 AM with the headline "She was reporting live when a stranger appeared behind her."