69-year old man shot and killed in Flatbush, Brooklyn home invasion

FLATBUSH (WABC) -- A 69-year-old man was shot and killed during a home invasion robbery in Brooklyn Wednesday morning.

Crime scene experts worked for hours cataloging clues at the modest home on Rugby Street after the violent crime left police with a million questions.

"I heard something and I made a joke. What's that sound? It sounds like a bomb," said Rick Mueller, a neighbor.

Neighbor Rick Mueller was home a few doors just before 11 Wednesday morning, when police say three suspects forced their way into the house and tied up a 71-year-old woman, demanding cash she didn't have.

"Tried to get her money, and forced her, pushed her in the house, and then the brother came down and he was shot," Mueller said.

As well-wishers laid flowers in memory of 69-year-old Leonard Phillips, who died from a gunshot to the head, police were trying to piece the case together.

Neighbors say Phillips lived there with his older sister and her two grown sons, though police sources tell Eyewitness News none of them have a criminal record.

Police are looking into the possibility the suspects simply targeted the wrong house, the home of an innocent hard working family, who did not deserve this.

"Oh they're very friendly people. Every time I exercise, walk around the neighborhood they would greet me," said Adrianne Ramsey, a neighbor.

"Everybody's nice. This block is really nice. It's just shocking that this would happen here and at 10 o'clock in the morning," said Fatima Khan, a neighbor.

It is still not clear whether the suspects got away with anything.

The woman was not hurt.

The suspects were described as men in their 20s, one wearing a white hoodie with a green stripe and the other wearing a black-and-white hoodie.