THUNDER BAY -- As her front door was kicked in and an attacker sprayed bear pepper spray in her home, the only thing Loretta Methot could think of was the safety of her children.
Methot and her boyfriend bought a home on Cumming Street about a month ago.
Despite the area’s bad reputation, Methot said it was a nice, quiet neighbourhood until Saturday night.
That’s when two men and a woman were fighting outside of her home.
With three young children asleep, Methot and her boyfriend went outside to ask the people to quiet down. That’s when the couple were attacked. They headed back inside and closed the door thinking the event was over.
“A couple of minutes later one of them kicked open the door and bear-maced my boyfriend and bear-maced our house and our babies,” Methot said recalling the bizarre incident Monday afternoon.
The couple have twin four-month-old babies and a one-year-old who were all taken to hospital. Methot said she also has a 15-year-old daughter who is now afraid to be home alone.
“To think that someone would do that knowing that there were babies in the house is pretty sad,” she said.
Methot had professional cleaners coming to the house but until then, the smell is still there.
“Every once in a while your eyes will start burning or you start choking because it’s still in the air,” she said.
The suspects have been described as:
Suspect 1 - Aboriginal woman
-20 to 25 years old
- average build
- long hair in a ponytail
- black jeans and a dark sweater
- black above the knees boots
Suspect 2 - Aboriginal man
- 6-foot-3
- 200 pounds
- 20 to 25 years old
- dark short hair
- dark pants and white hoodie with black writing
- white ball cap
Suspect 3 - Aboriginal man
- 5-foot-4
- 150 pounds
- late teens
- dark clothing
- black baseball cap worn backwards
- riding a bike