A WhatsApp group in Duffy is sharing information about suspicious people and activities in their neighbourhood after a family in Jemalong Street experienced a traumatic home invasion last month where a gun was pointed at a teenager's head.
The home owner and victim, who did not want to be identified, said creating the chat group - a fresh, digital twist on the old Neighbourhood Watch - was a way of sharing information which could help others avoid the terrible experience which left his family shaken and distressed.
"After what happened to us, as a family we all felt so vulnerable," he said.
"I talked to our neighbours and we formed this group to share information; I just don't anyone to go through what we went through. There are a couple of old ladies in our street and if they knew what happened to us, they would be petrified."
The family's home invasion nightmare happened over the Easter long weekend when three people, all wearing balaclavas, entered through the unlocked front door around 9.10pm.
The father was upstairs in the split-level townhouse watching television, as were his two daughters, while his son was downstairs working on a university assignment.
"I heard a scuffling noise from downstairs, which I didn't think much of at the time but then I heard my daughters scream out and I headed for the stairs," he said.
"I saw this big guy in a black balaclava at the bottom of the stairs holding a crowbar so I grabbed the first thing I could, which was a Dyson vacuum cleaner and yelled out, 'Get the f--- out of my house'.
"They bolted out the door when they saw me, which was lucky, and I rang the police straight away, and about three or four police cars turned up about five minutes later."
He found out the next day break-in attempts had been made on the local Duffy supermarket and coffee shop on the same night the offenders had entered his home and pointed a gun at his son's head, threatening to shoot him unless he handed over his car keys and mobile phone.
"They [the offenders] left behind a backpack which had a knife in it, some car keys and some mobile phones, and the police seized that and forensics people turned up," he said.
"They were after our car keys and anything else they could get.
"All our house lights were on but I suspect they had looked in our front window and didn't think anyone was home. Maybe I surprised them, I'm not sure. My son took a swing at one of them.
"The way they came into our house in such a brazen way, with a gun and crowbar and a knife, it's pretty scary to think what might have happened."
He said his daughters were traumatised by the experience and had received counselling. He wanted to make the incident public because he felt Canberra people needed to know they were not as safe in their suburban home as they presumed.
"It [the home invasion] has really shaken up our entire family," he said.
"You live in the suburbs and never think it can happen to you. But it changes you completely. I'm paranoid now. I've cut all my bushes back in the front yard, I lock the doors all the time and wake up in the middle of the night and walk around with a torch, checking the house, all the locks and the windows.
"The police were great, they took our statements and were very supportive and we have had support from Victims of Crime.
"But I think that people in Canberra need to know that there are these people out there, they are armed, they are desperate and they are prepared to enter your house at night.
"So please: lock your doors and keep your family safe."
Police said the offenders in this incident, one of whom they confirmed had a firearm, had yet to be identified. The incident remains an open investigation.
"Police are reminding residents to always secure their homes as offenders seek to identify premises that are easy to access," police said in a statement.
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