Police: Home invaders tie up children, exchange fire with officers

NORCROSS — Police have made two arrests and are searching for more home invaders who broke into a home and tied children to a bed.

The incident happened in the 1200 block of Williamsburg Lane in unincorporated Norcross early Tuesday morning.

The victims said men broke through their front door yelling that they were police. %

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“Just by their voice, they didn’t sound like the police,” 11-year-old Juan Pablo Cruz said.

The victims said as two of the adult men in the house were pistol whipped, at least two children in the home were tied up.

“He put a pillow behind my head and then they tied up us with this little rope,” Juan Pablo said.

Juan Pablo said he was told he would have been shot if he didn’t stay calm.

The child’s aunt said she slipped into a bathroom, hid in the tub and called for help.

“When I hear them talk, I closed the door and locked it. I didn’t know what to do,” Alicia Madriga said. “Quickly, I got into the bathtub and started talking with 911. I told them, ‘Please help us. Don’t ask me more questions, they will hear me.’”

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The family said the burglars stole jewelry and were trying to take down a big-screen TV when officers arrived.

Police said when they arrived, one of the fleeing home invaders opened fire. One officer shot back, but no one was hit.

Two men were arrested and the others got away.

Javier Gonzalez, of Alpharetta, faces a home invasion charge. The man who allegedly shot at police, Lamar Bowman, is in the hospital with an unrelated medical condition. He faces home invasion and aggravated assault charges.

Detectives spent the day interviewing the two captured suspects and trying to identify the others.

Police will not confirm the details or the number of people involved, but the family said there were four men who came inside their home and a fifth stood guard outside.

Cox Media Group