'Don't come in or you will be shot!' Lakewood man told home invaders: They went in

LAKEWOOD, Wash. -- Having been tied up and pistol-whipped, a Lakewood man had nasty cuts on his forehead from a terrifying home invasion.

“We are a little shaken up, but we are doing fine. Spent the night at the hospital, but we are home and we are fine,” the victim, who asked not to be identified, said Wednesday.

Outside his home in the 11000 block of Briar Road SW on Wednesday, you could still see the damage caused by three armed men who kicked open windows and doors. The robbers tied up the victim and his wife who are both in their 60s.

“He was able to stay pretty calm after being pistol-whipped pretty severely,” Lakewood police spokesman Chris Lawler said.

The thieves ransacked the home for valuables and at one point went outside. That’s when the homeowner freed himself and his wife and then shut the door and grabbed a gun.

“He made some good decisions -- he retreated to a bedroom,” Lawler said of the victim.

But the thieves fired shots through the door, breaking into the home again.

“He said, 'Don’t come in or you will be shot!' They had a chance to retreat and they didn’t,” Lawler said.

The homeowner fired two shots as the thieves ran into the bedroom.



The victim told Q13 FOX News he had no idea why the robbers targeted them.

“They kept saying, 'We want weed, we want money, we want gold' -- and we have none of those things,” the victim said.

Lakewood police say the home invasion was completely random.

“There is no link from this victim to any marijuana dispensary or any business like that; we don’t know if they targeted the wrong address,” Lawler said.

The armed robbers got away, but an hour later a body was dumped at the Palisades Apartments in Federal Way. A person called 911 saying they heard a gunshot.

“Come to find out that call was fake, to get some response there for medical aid,” Lawler said.

Lakewood police say the dead man is one of the thieves who broke into the Lakewood home. The random home invasion has neighbors still shaken up.

“I was scared so I didn’t come out ... looked out the window,” neighbor Vann Lak said.

The homeowner was treated for lacerations to his head and his wife had cuts on her hand. Lakewood police say the couple was courageous.

The Pierce County Sheriff’s Department said Wednesday's Lakewood home invasion was not related to a home invasion Tuesday in Midland, where two men tied up a couple Tuesday afternoon and escaped.