MILWAUKEE, WI - A targeted home invasion ends with one woman and a child in the hospital and an entire neighborhood searching for answers. It happened overnight in the city of Wauwatosa right across the street from Kat Lazzaro's home.
“It’s my literal worst nightmare," Kat Lazzaro said.
Lazzaro’s lived in Wauwatosa near 116th and Watertown Plank Rd. for about three and a half years —but she said the details of what happened overnight are unlike anything else she’s heard of happening in the area before.
“It’s so scary," Lazzaro said.
"You don’t think about it happening in a neighborhood like this, you really don’t," she continued.
Police said five victims were held hostage inside the home after two men entered the duplex at about 8:30 Thursday night. Police weren’t called until several hours later after the suspects left the property and one woman and a five-year-old child were taken to the hospital with head injuries after possibly being beaten with a gun —something Kelly Gerlach, a neighbor, considers unfathomable.
“That’s senseless," Gerlach said.
"She’s a baby. She's not doing anything to anybody and her family’s just trying to protect her," she continued.
According to Captain Brian Zalewski with Wauwatosa PD, the suspects knew the victims because they had recently done some work on the home and the robbery was a targeted attack.
“It sounds like that the suspects were trying to obtain money," Captain Zalewski said.
"Trying to obtain some financial information, I’m not exactly sure what they did obtain," he continued.
Police are still actively investigating.
