Armed robbers shoot at police, take $50K from N. Harris County home

Officers from multiple agencies search for suspects who fired on officers and stole more than $50,000 from a home in the 10000 block of Rosbrook, Monday, Jan. 2, 2017, in Houston. Officers from multiple agencies search for suspects who fired on officers and stole more than $50,000 from a home in the 10000 block of Rosbrook, Monday, Jan. 2, 2017, in Houston. Photo: Jon Shapley, Houston Chronicle Photo: Jon Shapley, Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 8 Caption Close Armed robbers shoot at police, take $50K from N. Harris County home 1 / 8 Back to Gallery

Five to 10 armed men escaped police Monday night after robbing a home in north Harris County and firing dozens of rounds toward responding officers, police said.

Three children escaped the robbers who pistol-whipped their father and stole more than $50,000 in cash from the home, which contained large quantities of drugs, a police spokesman said.

About 6 p.m. Monday a teenage girl called police from a home in the 10000 block of Rosbrook Court near the Greenspoint area and said her father was being beaten by armed men, Harris County Sheriff's Office spokesman Sgt. Cedrick Collier said. The girl and her two siblings younger than 10 managed to escape to a neighbor's house.

Sheriff's deputies responding to the call about the home invasion and robbery were met with a hail of gunfire, Collier said -- at least 20 or 30 rounds. No one was injured.

The armed men escaped through the back door and are believed to have left in a white Jeep or SUV, the spokesman added.

The Harris County SWAT team arrived to the scene and used a robot to search the house, Collier said. Dozens of police officers from multiple agencies combed the area looking for the men, checking the nearby bayou with canines. No one had been arrested as of 10 p.m.

The robbers took at least $50,000 in cash from the house and left behind large quantities of multiple kinds of drugs, the spokesman said.

The father who was pistol-whipped was treated at a hospital and would be questioned by police after his release, he added.

"It's not a random incident," Collier said. "They were targeted."

andrew.kragie@chron.com