MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A trip to school turned terrifying for a St. Paul family after two armed suspects assaulted a man who was putting his two young children into their car seats on Wednesday morning.

“It’s unthinkable that … somebody would point a gun to a child’s head,” said Sgt. Mike Ernster of the St. Paul Police Department.

This scary incident happened on the 300 block of View Street, just across the street from Palace Park in St. Paul. The 28-year-old victim told police he was in his garage with his two children, ages 4 and 9. He just strapped his kids into car seats and opened the garage door when he noticed that a bin had been knocked over, blocking him from driving out of the garage.

Shortly after moving it, an armed man came up from behind, hitting him with the butt of a handgun. Another man also rushed into the garage.

“At this point, the victim’s … 9-year-old daughter got out of the car, pleaded with the suspect for them to not shoot her dad,” Ernster said.

One of the men grabbed the girl, covered her mouth with his hand and held the gun to her head. Her father was then able to break free and call for help as the two men ran away.

Police had to shut down a school in the area as they searched for the suspects. It’s too early for investigators to know whether the men targeted the family, but they do have some clues.

“With the garbage can down, behind the vehicle, blocking the exit, not allowing him to leave without getting out and moving it? That seems …something like it was set to get the reaction that it did,” Ernster said.

Parents who live in the area tell WCCO this is a close-knit neighborhood, and say incidents like these are hard to comprehend.

“I mean, it’s alarming for sure. I don’t want to hear about guns being used against children or anyone ever,” said Allison Fox.

Police are still looking for the two men involved. The first suspect is described as a 25- to 30-year-old black male with a skinny build, wearing a black and white baseball cap, black and white shoes, black sweatpants with white strips on both sides of the hip, and a dark blue sweater.

The second suspect is described as black male with a skinny build, wearing a black hoodie covering his face, black pants with white logo on left thigh and black shoes with the lower half white.