Police: Residents were sleeping when gunmen broke into home

ATLANTA - Police said three criminals stormed a home in the Virginia Highland neighborhood pulling guns on residents who were asleep in their beds.

"These guys were on a mission. They kicked down the front door, went directly upstairs, and hit me over the head with the gun and kept on asking where the safe was," said one of the victims.

Still shaken two weeks after the violent home invasion at his northeast Atlanta residence, the victim asked us not to show his face on the air or use his name as he recounted the terrifying ordeal.

"The gun was held to my head the whole time. The twelve minutes they were in the house," the victim said.

Monday afternoon, Atlanta Police released sketches of the three suspects wanted in connection with the April 14 attack at this residence in the 1000 block of Virginia Avenue.

"We've sent those out in hopes of getting additional information and locate these people and get them off the street," said Sgt. John Chafee, Atlanta Police Department.

Police said the suspects kicked down the front door at around 2:40 that morning and made their way upstairs to this victim's bedroom, initially unaware his two roommates were home. They struck him with a gun and repeatedly demanded he tell them where the safe was, according to police.

"It does not appear that this was random. It does appear they went to the home believing that there was a safe inside. There was not," said Sgt. Chafee.

The victim said the suspects had the wrong house and believed one of his neighbors was the intended target. He said the suspects fled after realizing two other people were home and fearing one of them had called the police.

"The perpetrators walked into his room and asked if he had called the police. That's when they fled thinking the police were coming," the victim said.