Brandon couple fears for safety after home invasion
'We were just totally terrified,' husband says after masked man pointed gun at him in kitchen
A Brandon couple is still trying to process what they were put through Sunday after two masked males burst into their home and one of them pointed a gun at the husband.
"We were just totally terrified," the husband told CBC News Monday.
CBC News won't be revealing the names of the couple as they fear for their safety.
"I was about to start cooking supper, I was in the kitchen, and my wife and child were in the living room," the husband said. "I heard a thump at the back door and I turned around just in time to see two guys kick in the back door."
One of the men was unarmed, but the other pointed a handgun at the husband and ordered him onto the floor.
"They told me to get on the floor in my own kitchen, with my wife and kid right here," he said. "To be honest, I thought it was a joke. I just couldn't believe it, and then immediately I was scared for everyone's safety."
But the husband said he didn't follow those orders. Instead, he blocked the doorway and said "I've a got a kid right here, I have a little baby."
Backed out, ran away
"They just kind of looked confused or something and they just backed out and ran away. It was like they didn't maybe expect that there was going to be a kid here.... Then it was over, just as quick as it started."
In the middle of the tense ordeal, the husband said two other masked males were knocking at their door, which was unlocked at the time.
The husband dialled 911 and as officers arrived and were in the middle of taking their statements, they all heard shots ring out in the distance.
A home nearby on Lorne Avenue East was shot at upwards of 30 times, Brandon police Staff Sgt. Larry Yanick told CBC News Sunday night.
Police rushed from the home on Park Street and came across a speeding vehicle along the way. A brief police chase ended in a back lane in the 200 block of Russell Street. One man was arrested immediately; another sprinted from the vehicle but was eventually apprehended by police near First Street and Princess Avenue.
Police recovered a gun magazine and bullets in the vehicle, as well as a handgun near the scene.
Shooting hits home
Steve Buhler lives around the corner and was at home at the time of the shooting on Lorne Avenue East.
"At first we didn't really think it was gunshots," he said Monday. "We just thought it was maybe some loud firecrackers or a car or something.
"It took a little bit for it to sink in. All of a sudden there was cops everywhere and then we thought, 'Well, this is probably a little more serious than we first thought.'"
Buhler said he still feels like the area is safe but is concerned that the shooting happened so close to his house.
Detlev Makein has lived in the east end for 17 years and said the shooting hits home.
"It makes me kind of worried but it always has been the other side of town," he added. "It's a little bit concerning."
'It doesn't make sense'
Aside from a few vehicle break-ins in the five years in the neighbourhood, the husband said nothing like this has ever happened.
"It doesn't make any sense," the husband said. "To think that those guys had those weapons, and they weren't afraid to use them, and they were loaded and pointed right at me, after the fact, it's really scary."
He believes the same people who broke into his house were responsible for that shooting.
Police have said the couple on Park Street were likely not the targets.
That hasn't proved to be much of a consolation to the husband and wife, who are still rattled and no longer feel safe in the neighbourhood.
"I took the day off, I didn't really sleep last night. I was on a razor's edge all night," the husband said. "It was a big relief when we heard they caught two of the guys ... but there's still two out there."
The shooting on Lorne Avenue East was the third shooting in Brandon eight days. Police are investigating whether they could be related.