HARTFORD, CT (WCMH) — The three women were eating lunch when the bobcat attacked them.

“We’ve seen bobcats in our backyard and then crossing down the street,” Danicee Butcka, who lives near the greenhouse where the attack took place, told WFSB.

Officials with “The Caring Community of Connecticut,” a social services provider, said that about 20 people were eating in a greenhouse when the bobcat appeared in the backdoor.

The animal at first attacked a backpack, before it turned its attention to the people.

The bobcat jumped on one woman, and scratched two others when they tried to help.

“To walk in where there’s 20 people or so…that’s scary that it had no fear of the people at all,” Butcka told WFSB.

When officers arrived the bobcat eventually started to go back into the woods, but it turned around and became aggressive again. The officers shot and killed the animal.

Wildlife officials say it is very rare for a bobcat to attack humans, and that this bobcat likely had rabies.

The three women were taken to an area hospital for treatment, and will be checked for rabies.