Shot fired into home of Barrie family during break-in attempt by several masked suspects

A Barrie family was left shaken and terrified after several masked suspects tried to break into their home while they slept.

Aevic Geris, her husband, and their three young children were sleeping in the basement suite of a home on Rosedale Place near Cundles Road and Bayfield Street when she said she heard a loud bang around 2:30 a.m. on Monday and screamed for her husband to wake.

Exterior home surveillance video shows four individuals wearing face coverings, two of whom police confirmed were armed with what appears to be a shotgun and a handgun, attempting to gain entry to the home through the backdoor.

Surveillance video shows a masked suspect armed with what appears to be a handgun attempt to break into a house in Barrie, Ont., on Mon., Jan. 8, 2024. (Supplied)

A second camera inside the home shows an arm reaching through a broken window in the door and trying to unlock it from the inside. However, two deadbolts prevented the suspect from getting in.

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The couple said they walked toward the stairs and started yelling for the perpetrators to leave.

"We saw the arm coming through the broken window, and then there was just the end of the shotgun pointing to the house," said Geris. "I was so scared. I was so scared for the kids."

Surveillance video shows an arm reach through a broken window try to unlock a door at a house in Barrie, Ont., on Mon., Jan. 8, 2024. (Supplied)

The suspects allegedly fired a single shot from the handgun into the house before giving up their attempts to gain entry and taking off.

"[It] went right through the door, through the drywall, and the bullet is lodged in there," Geris said.

The couple, who had been renting the basement unit, said they installed the video surveillance cameras after moving in, adding they have no idea why anyone would try to break in.

While the two adults and their three children inside the house were not physically injured, they said they are suffering mentally and emotionally following the ordeal and are too scared to stay at their home with the suspects still on the loose.

"We’re dealing with an incident where there was significant fire power brought to this residence for whatever reason, and that’s something we’re trying to get to the bottom of right now," said Peter Leon, Barrie Police Services.

Police confirmed there was a separate incident that took place in the upstairs unit in November, but said they don't yet know if the two incidents are connected.

The upstairs unit was vacant at the time of Monday's attempted break-in.

Barrie police are investigating and asking residents in the area to check their surveillance footage for suspicious persons or activity. The suspects are believed to have arrived in a mid-sized, perhaps dark grey or silver SUV.