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911 call paints frightening picture of thwarted home invasion in Winter Garden

WINTER GARDEN, Fla. — Officers continue to search for a man and a woman who tried to invade a Winter Garden home Friday morning, the Winter Garden Police Department said.

A 20-year-old man who lives at the home on Bainbridge Loop fired a rifle, scaring off the duo, Winter Garden police Lt. Scott Allen said.

Police said a woman repeatedly rang a doorbell and knocked on the front door while a man tried to break through a sliding glass door at the rear of the home.

"I have an attempted robbery," the man told an emergency dispatcher. "I'm pretty sure I shot one of them."

The resident told investigators he didn't open the door for the woman because he couldn’t see through the peephole, which was blocked by a Christmas wreath.

"I'm in the house, locked [in] with my dog in the laundry room," the man said in the 911 call. "I shot him as he was trying to break through the glass screen door. I don't know if he's still out back here."

While the man awaited police officers, investigators said he described to the dispatcher the would-be intruders and their getaway vehicle -- a gold- or copper-colored Honda sedan.

“He was wearing black -- full black gear and a black ski mask,” the man said during the call. “I saw a woman's feet -- white. And she was wearing rainbow-colored, fuzzy socks.”

Allen said area emergency rooms were alerted after the incident because K-9 dogs tracked down blood in the area. Officers believe the man who tried to break into the home was injured by gunfire or shattered glass.

“It would appear a black male with a ski mask on was banging on the glass with a brick,” Allen said. “As the window shattered, the victim shot at the suspect.”

Victoria Erhabor, who lives two houses away, said she hopes the culprits are arrested soon.

She and her son finished up hanging Christmas decorations Saturday because police officers ordered them to go back into their home during the incident Friday.

“[There was] a policeman here in the driveway with a gun,” Erharbor said. “Then I asked him, ‘Do I need to go back in the house?’ And he said, ‘Yes, go back in the house.’”

With Christmas just two weeks away, neighbors told Channel 9 that they’ll be investing in surveillance cameras.

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