By RODNEY HO/ rho@ajc.com, originally filed Friday, November 13, 2015

"NCIS" star  and former Roswell resident Pauley Perrette revealed Friday that she was attacked by a homeless man a day earlier and "almost died."

She posted an Instagram post about her ordeal this morning:

She called the person who went after her as a "VERY psychotic homeless man." Near her home, the man punched her and threatened to kill her.

He kept saying the name William. She told him that was a "beautiful name. I have a little nephew named William." Somehow, he then let her go. "I went into shock. Collapsed on the sidewalk," she wrote.

She did a quick sketch of the man and sent it to a friend who tracked him down. The cops arrested the man for felony assault.

"I am shakened and traumatized," she wrote. She expressed empathy for homeless people who need housing and mental health.

"We need to support our cops," she wrote. "We need to not walk alone. I need to heal."

Perrette, a 46 year old who grew up by the Chattahoochee River in Roswell, has played quirky forensic scientist Abby Sciuto for the past 12 years on the still very popular CBS show "NCIS."