Mom Returning from Visit with Cancer-Stricken Husband Fatally Shot by Roommate Who Mistook Her for Intruder By Liam Quinn

A professor and mother of three children was fatally shot by her roommate who mistook her for an intruder.

Erica Anderson, 31, died in a shooting in Columbus, Ga., that authorities have deemed accidental, according to reports from WTVM and the Ledger-Inquirer.

Anderson had returned home just after midnight on Monday, Oct. 13 from a visit with her husband and kids, who are living in Indiana, WTVM reported.

WTVM spoke to Muscogee County Coroner Buddy Bryan who said that Anderson’s roommate had received alleged terroristic threats from her son, so when she heard noise while she slept she picked up a gun and fired two shots.

The second bullet struck Anderson, Bryan told the outlet.

“You have to think about the roommate that shot her,” Bryan reportedly said. “I’m sure she’s devastated as anyone would be under the circumstances.”

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Anderson had begun work as a lecturer in costumes in the Department of Theatre & Dance at Columbus State University in August, the school said on its website.

“Prior to her current role, she taught costumes at Southern Utah University and the University of Florida,” the school said. “She has worked professionally in theatres and opera houses across the U.S., such as the Sarasota Opera, Indiana Repertory Theatre and Utah Shakespeare Theatre, and backstage for IATSE on touring Broadway shows.”

A GoFundMe has been started to raise money for Anderson’s family. The organizer wrote that Anderson’s husband is currently undergoing cancer treatment.

“Erica had just started this semester at Columbus State University as a professor in the theater department,” the organizer wrote. “She was so passionate about her work and her students, and she was truly excited about building her future with the university community she had already come to love.”