WATCH ABOVE: An Edmonton man is recovering after masked men attacked him in his home Friday night. Police say the man was wrongfully targeted. Eric Szeto reports.
EDMONTON — The parents of a woman whose husband was viciously beaten in front of his children Friday night say their daughter didn’t think her family was going to make it through the attack alive.
“There was a lot of damage and a lot of blood,” said Debbie, who’s son-in-law was the victim.
Debbie and John said their daughter and son-in-law were at home when the attack took place. Investigators believe the home, located on McAllister Crescent in southwest Edmonton, was wrongfully targeted.
Police said the 36-year-old man went outside to his vehicle around 11:20 p.m. Friday, when he was confronted by three masked men and was threatened with a firearm.
“He just went outside for a minute and she heard a commotion and opened the back door and he yelled at her to bolt the door and to call the police,” Debbie explained Sunday morning. “She bolted the door and was reaching for her cellphone when they broke down the back door.”
Police said the man was severely beaten and dragged back into his house, where his wife was then assaulted by one of the masked men. The woman was holding their baby at the time, who fell out of her arms but was unharmed.
“One held her down, threw her down with the baby – two-month-old baby – on the couch and held her head while they were beating up her husband,” Debbie said.
Four men continued to assault the victim, who was again threatened with a firearm, while a fifth suspect restrained his wife, police said.
“When they had the gun and they were holding my daughter down and telling her not to look she didn’t think they were going to make it through the night,” Debbie explained.
“She said, ‘We’ll give you anything we have just don’t hurt my children.'”
Debbie said the couple’s other children were sleeping at the time, but two of them woke up when they heard the commotion. The couple’s three-year-old and seven-year-old came downstairs to see what was going on. When the suspects noticed the children were out of bed, they fled the home through the back door. The men fled east in the alley toward McAllister Loop.
The victim was treated by paramedics and taken to hospital. His father says he received more than 100 stitches to his head.
“He was upbeat as best as he could be at the hospital, doing that for the family,” John said. “The family is doing as well as can be expected.”
“I think now the shock is starting to wear off and it’s starting to hit everybody how close to home it really was to maybe not making it through,” Debbie added.
Police are asking residents who live in the southwest Edmonton neighbourhood to check their yards for any suspicious items that may have been discarded by the suspects as they left the scene.
“Please do not touch the item(s), and call police immediately,” said Sinclair.
While the house was wrongfully targeted, investigators believe the motive for the break-in and assault was drug related. Police are looking for five men.
“We are asking that the suspects do the right thing, and turn themselves in,” said Sinclair.
During the break-in, a white Lhasa Apso dog wearing ID tags went missing, but has since been found.
Anyone with information about the incident or the suspects is asked to call the Edmonton Police Service non-emergency complaint line at 780-423-4567 or #377 from a mobile phone. Anonymous information can also be submitted to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online.
With files from Kerry Powell, Global News.
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