On June 21, just after 4:30am, an 11-year-old and his parents were all jolted out of bed in their North Etobicoke home.
“We heard a smash,” said the homeowner, who asked not to be identified — still too shaken after the ordeal. That sound came from their rear patio door.
“Seconds later we saw four masked men storm into our bedroom,” the mother of the household told us. “They were armed with hammers. My first thought is I have to get to my son’s room but I was too scared to move.”
Her husband, a legal gun owner, then quickly ran to get a shotgun he had stored in his bedroom.
“Thank God for that gun,” The woman told us.
That gun was not loaded.
“Because we didn’t have time to do it, because it was just a few seconds.”
The suspects didn’t take their chances. The man pointed the gun at them and they were seen in video surveillance running out the front door stealing nothing but this family’s sense of security.
“The whole thing lasted maybe 17 seconds but it was the worst seconds of my life,” the woman told us.
The couple then called 911 and police responded.
A Toronto Police spokesperson did not say whether there have been any arrests, telling us only that their investigation continues.
This family’s story is eerily similar to several others CityNews has shared with you in the past several months in other parts of the GTA.
The most recent occurred exactly 24 hours after the Etobicoke home invasion at 4:40 a.m. on Sunday, June 22, in a residential neighbourhood near Riverbend Road and Campbell Court, in the McCowan Road and Hwy. 7 area in York region. Five masked men also smashed through a rear glass door while the homeowners were asleep.
Police have not said if the cases are linked as investigators in both Toronto and York continue to work on identifying suspects.
The family in Etobicoke, who immigrated to Canada six years ago, say they now fear for their safety and say more needs to be done to catch and punish those responsible for recent home invasions.
“It’s a criminal situation in this country. It’s a terrible situation,” the mother told us. “I hope maybe the government will see what is happening and do something.”
Anyone with information is either case is asked to contact Crimestoppers.
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