It was like a scene from a movie.
That is how a young man described a traumatic ordeal on Monday morning when his family’s secluded Christ Church home was invaded by armed men and an elderly relative attacked.
Jonathan Norgrove told Barbados TODAY that around 9:10 a.m, two dreadlocked men wearing shades, white T-shirts and jeans came to his home knocking, claiming they were representing the National Housing Corporation (NHC).
When his mother, who is in her 60s, unlocked the door, Norgrove said, they yanked it open, hit her in her head a few times and one man held her while the other cuffed her in the face.
“He was saying ‘put something in she mouth’ because she wouldn’t stop screaming to alert me, my sister and the French exchange student that is staying with us,” said Norgrove who spoke on behalf of the family and asked that the names of his relatives not be published.
He said he was still asleep at that point, but he was told that while one man continued to wrestle with his mother, the other ventured into the house where he spotted the French exchange student running.
“Just as he saw that he sees my sister who had opened her bedroom door to see what was happening and then he points the gun at her and says ‘don’t move or I will shoot’. So then my sister shut the door and locked it and he ran up to it and kicked the door. My sister jumped out her window and took her cellular phone and called the police,” Norgrove said.
He said the man then followed the French student who ran into his bedroom, waking him. The student closed the door behind her and used what little English she knew to inform Norgrove that intruders were in the house.
“I ran to the door, locked it and put my back to it and then I heard the guy banging on it saying ‘open the door’. So then I yelled ‘get out of our house’. My sister who was calling the police outside was talking very loudly on her phone and then the dude heard that and ran back outside,” he said.
Norgrove said the other man was still trying to shove something into his mother’s mouth, but she was still screaming and trying to fight him off but he eventually ran off as well.
“My mother had a bump on her head and her neck was scratched up. Her mouth was bloody as well . . . Now she is saying she is feeling a soreness in her ribs,” the son continued.
Norgrove said he was thankful no life was lost during the ordeal and was grateful to police for responding to the scene quickly.
He took to social media after the incident to talk about the ordeal and to put people on guard.
“It is dangerous now. You have to look out because you never know who is genuine,” he said.
Police public relations Assistant Superintendent David Welch confirmed the crime was being investigated.