The whole area was on lockdown for hours after a man broke into the home shortly before 6 p.m. in the 4800 block of Porter Street.
Police say the man, who was armed, knocked on the door and then when a woman answered, the suspect immediately pepper sprayed her. The woman's husband rushed to the door and got into a struggle with the suspect. That's when the intruder's gun went off. But no one was hurt. The woman, her husband, and their two children managed to get out of the house while the suspect remained inside.
Police were called and when they arrived they immediately surrounded the house and shut down nearby roads. About two hours later the SWAT team went into the house, which they discovered was empty. But they did recover a high powered assault rifle inside. Detectives are now trying to figure out if this family was targeted.
"The fact that the female was pepper sprayed and there was an assault rifle, it does allude to the fact that there might be more behind this," Fremont police spokesperson Geneva Bosquez said. "But we're still investigating that and we're still early in investigation."
Police described the suspect as a skinny 30-year-old Hispanic man with a long bushy ponytail, a goatee and tattoos above both eyebrows. Officials say he was wearing a black zip-up gray jacket, a gray T-shirt and blue pants.
The suspect is considered armed and dangerous. Anyone with information about the robbery has been asked to call Fremont police at (510) 790-6800.
(Bay City News contributed to this report)
