'Really scary:' Elderly woman hurt during Durham home invasion

DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) -- Durham Police are investigating a home invasion reported before 9 this morning in the 4800 block of Old Chapel Hill Road.

An elderly woman was hurt. There were four women and two young children inside during the break-in. Nobody else was injured.

Araceli Guerrero lives in the home and said a man knocked on the door and forced his way inside.

She said he pointed a gun at her and demanded money. Guerrero said he hit her mother-in-law in the stomach with the gun and knocked her mother-in-law over.

"I just can't respect that," said Donovan Eliab, who lives in the neighborhood. "I can't respect somebody who's going to knock over somebody's grandma but it's unfortunate for that to happen. I'm really sorry for the family."

Guerrero said the suspect then walked down the hallway into a room where her mother was at the time. He took off with a purse containing her mother's passport, personal documents and about $10. She said she was able to escape through the back of the house.

"It's just really scary," said neighbor Joann McClintock. "The fact that it happened on a morning on a busy road where they're doing construction. That somebody could just get into someone's home like that in the middle of the day is very scary."

"I thought this was a good neighborhood," Eliab said. "We stay over here. It's a good community. It's my first time hearing anything like that. But I just take into account -- me and my friends think about those types of situations and kind of plan those out before those things happen."

Police said the robber fled in a vehicle driven by a second man.

If you have any information, contact the Durham Police.