2 Men Shot During Violent Signal Hill Home Invasion, 3 Suspects At Large

SIGNAL HILL (CBSLA) – Police are looking for three armed men who broke into a Signal Hill home late Wednesday night and shot two men, critically wounding one of them.

Rafael Calderon, one of the victims who was shot, told CBS2 that at about 11 p.m. three masked men forced their way through the front door of his home in the 3200 block of East 19th Street. His family of five were inside at the time.

Calderon said the suspects ordered the family to get onto the ground, including his elderly grandmother. They then tried to tie them up with zip-ties.

"That's a coward move, to pull a rifle on an 80-year-old lady who's in bed," Calderon told CBS2 Thursday. "Like, who does that?"

When the family tried to fight the men off, an altercation ensued.

"The guy with the rifle, pointed it at me, so I'm like, 'alright, he's serious, it's not a joke,'" Calderon said. "I turned around, and then I guess they started scuffling in the living room, and that distracted the guy that was trying to tie me up, so I turned around and I pushed him out towards the living room, and I don't know how, I just tossed his butt out."

The altercation spilled out onto the porch, where the gunman opened fire, hitting Calderon's uncle, 44-year-old Jose Paredes. Calderon was also grazed by a bullet.

Both men were rushed to local hospitals. Paredes remains in critical condition while Calderon was treated and released, police said.

Nothing was stolen from the home. Calderon told CBS2 he's still unclear what the suspects' motive was.

"I told him, 'what's going on, what are you here for?'" Calderon said…"I didn't know if I was gonna live or die."

There was no immediate description of the suspects. Police are canvassing the neighborhood for surveillance video.