Cranbourne dad says handgun, rifle pointed at him in attempted home invasion
A FATHER bashed and shot at while looking after his teenage daughter and her friends said he had to fight off a gang armed with a gun and rifle from pushing their way into his Cranbourne home.
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A FATHER who was bashed and shot at while looking after his teenage daughter and her friends said he had to fight off an armed gang from pushing their way into his Cranbourne home.
Andrew Lyons, 38, said he was grabbed by the throat and punched in the mouth by a male youth after opening the door of his Marklin St home at 11.30pm Saturday night.
As he was fighting off his attacker, he noticed there was a gun pointing directly at him by another offender.
“He lunged toward me and grabbed my by the throat and punched me in the mouth,” the father of three told the Herald Sun.
“Then two other guys stepped up onto the landing and one had a rifle with a scope on it.”
Mr Lyons said he lunged back at his attacker, causing him to fall over and allowing the dad enough time to lock the front door.
A shot was then fired into the front entrance of the home, with the bullet travelling through the lounge room and striking a wall on the opposite side of the room.
“I just ran straight to the kids’ room and locked the door and then ran to my daughter’s room,” Mr Lyon said.
He was supervising his 16-year-old daughter and her four friends at the time of the attempted home invasion.
The only motive he could think of was that the gang were interested in stealing his car, a black modified WM Caprice V8.
The first offender was caucasian, about 2m tall and wearing dark clothing.
The second was also caucasian, aged 17 to 25, about 167cm tall, a solid build, short straight brown hair and sparse facial hair that was lighter in colour than the hair on his head.
He was wearing a grey hooded top.
The third and fourth offenders were said to be of African appearance, aged 17 to 20, about 160cm tall and slim.
They were both wearing black hooded tops.
Detective Senior Constable Andrew Walker, of Casey CIU, said: “There were six victims present when the attack happened.
“None of the offenders are known to the victims.
“No property or items were stolen but we still haven’t identified their motivation, whether it was property-related or a personal attack.”
Police believe the offenders fled in a dark SUV.
Detectives are hoping CCTV in the area will help them catch the offenders.
Anyone with information should contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential report at crimestoppersvic.com.au.