Victoria family uninjured after intruder enters home, fights with father

The allegedly discarded handgun is pictured. (Victoria police)

Victoria police say a family is uninjured after an intruder barged into their home on Tuesday afternoon.

Police say the incident began around 1:30 p.m. when officers spotted a group of people standing outside a group of townhomes in the 2600-block of Dowler Place.

When the group saw the officers, one man from the group began to walk away. As he was walking, police say the man was seen dropping a loaded handgun onto the ground, before he turned and ran towards the homes.

The officers reportedly called for backup and chased the man as he ran into a townhouse that was occupied by two young children and their mother and father.

Police were told that the man ran into the home and first bumped into the children's mother. He pushed her out of the way, at which point the father, who was in the kitchen, came and confronted the man.

The mother then grabbed one nearby child and "leaped out of a first-floor window" to lead the child outside, police said. The mother then re-entered the home to grab the second child from an upstairs bedroom as the father continued to fight with the intruder.

"The father continued to struggle with the suspect and succeeded in throwing the man out the back door into the backyard," police said in a release Wednesday.

The man then leapt over a nearby fence into a neighbour's backyard, police said.

VicPD officers arrived shortly after and encountered the father in the backyard. Police say the father was briefly held at gunpoint as the responding officers tried to locate and identify the suspect.

The father pointed to the fence that the man had jumped over and police say the man was found in the neighbouring yard.

The man was then taken into custody and later transported to hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries received during the struggle with the father, police said.

All family members of the home were uninjured, according to VicPD.

The discarded handgun was also seized by police.

The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to call Victoria police at 250-995-7654 extension 1.