Armed home intruders pistol-whip 5-year-old girl in face — take off with a cell phone

Armed home intruders on Staten Island pistol-whipped a 5-year-old girl in the face early Monday morning — and took off from the premises with a cell phone.

What are the details?

Four suspects, three armed with guns, kicked in the front door of the home near Livingston Avenue and Queen Street around 12:45 a.m., WPIX-TV reported, citing New York City Police.

A 5-year-old girl, a 4-year-old boy, a 33-year-old woman, and a 54-year-old resident were inside the home at the time of the break-in, the station said, citing police.

The NYPD released a video from surveillance cameras showing the robbers — wearing hoodies and masks — entering the home and searching the residence with a flashlight, the New York Daily News reported.

The robbers demanded money and jewelry, police said, according to the Daily News, and they pistol-whipped the girl and the woman. The victims suffered facial cuts and bleeding, WPIX said, and were taken to a hospital for treatment. The boy and the 54-year-old resident were not hurt, the paper added.

The suspects stole a cell phone before fleeing the home, police told the station, and there have been no arrests.

Police are asking the public for help identifying the suspects and tracking them down, the Daily News said, adding that anyone with information can confidentially call Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS.

How have folks been reacting?

Commenters under the New York Post's story about the incident are not happy:

• "Wonder how many times these winners/grad students have been caught and released with no bail," one commenter said. "The child in the home did not deserve this. ..."
• "Where was the social service worker to talk them out of this now that nothing is a crime and responsibility is a past tense?" another commenter asked.
• "Liberal states would rather have dead innocents than armed informed citizens, only one of them is a threat to their tyranny," another commenter said.
• "Isn't gun control great!!" another commenter exclaimed. "You take the guns away from the law abiding citizens and give them to the criminals."

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