3 children locked in bathroom during Valley Stream home invasion

VALLEY STREAM, Long Island (WABC) -- Police are searching for two suspects who they say forced their way into a Long Island residence on Monday evening in an armed robbery that terrified a family.

The incident happened at a home on Henrietta Street in Valley Stream around 6:45 p.m.

There was a knock at the door, so she answered it.

Standing there, were two masked men armed with handguns.

"When he say, 'The money,' I say, 'I have no money.' Then I closed the door and he pushed me in the door," Gonzalez said.

She was so shaken she asked Eyewitness News not to show her face.

You could still hear the tremble in her voice.

"Everybody is ok, you know," she said.

The 41-year-old Valley Stream mother is now holding her little daughter's hand a little tighter after what they went through.

Who'd blame her if she never let go.

When those masked men came barging in, Gonzalez was inside with her 12-year-old daughter, her 12-year-old niece, a 3-month-old baby girl, and her 73-year-old mother.

She says the men told everyone to get on the couch, took all their cell phones, searched the house for 10 minutes, and then locked everyone in the bathroom.

"We were crying because that never happened to us," her daughter said.

Gonzalez's daughter says the family huddled up in the bathroom terrified.

They didn't know what was happening, or why.

"We didn't know if we could come out yet because my mom didn't know if more people would be coming in, because they locked us in," she said.

When they eventually came out, the house was ransacked.

Mattresses were flipped over, and only a few pieces of jewelry stolen, no cash.

Gonzalez thinks the thieves may have hit the wrong house.

She says a surveillance camera caught them forcing their way in and that video is now a part of the police investigation.

The first suspect is described as a black male, about 5-foot-7 and 150 pounds, wearing a heavy black jacket, blue jeans, white and black Nike sneakers, sunglasses and a ski mask. The second suspect is described as a black male, approximately 6-foot-2 and weighing 185 pounds, wearing a brown sleeveless jacket, a brown shirt, blue jeans, dark brown boots and a ski mask.

Detectives are investigating if the home was targeted, and anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-244-TIPS. All callers will remain anonymous.