BURLINGTON TWP., N.J. -
Police are looking for the gunman who forced his way into the home of an 81-year-old man. They say it's the first home invasion in Burlington Township in quite some time, but insist it was not random.
They say the victim was specifically targeted.
Some time between 7:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. Thursday, the gunman walked up to the victim's door.
Lt. Bruce Painter of the Burlington Township Police Dept. described what happened next: "Rang his doorbell, and when he answered the door, was confronted by a white male armed with a handgun, who then forced his way into his house."
Once inside the home, the gunman tied the elderly victim to a chair and ransacked the place.
Black dust was still visible on the victim's screen door, where police investigators dusted for fingerprints.
FOX 29 is not identifying the victim, for his safety. He told us he was not injured.
"No, my arms got a couple of bruises on them... from blood thinners, from when (he) tied me up," he said.
The victim, who managed to free himself after about a half hour, did not want to talk about what happened. And police are providing few details, except to say, "We don't feel this was a random act. We feel he was targeted due to his employment," Painter said. "Our victim deals in precious metals."
The victim is working closely with police, who believe the gunman may be trying to pawn the stolen property.
Detectives though could use some help.
"We don't know if a car was used to get away, if he ran off on foot, we don't know," Painter said. "So if there's anything out there that anyone saw in that time frame last night that can help us, we'd appreciate a phone call."
Police had hoped to release a sketch of the gunman. But after a couple of hours of work, police say the victim and the artist reached an impasse. Police say they were not willing to release an inaccurate sketch.
