Oak Creek home invasion; 2 children inside home at the time

2 children inside during Oak Creek home invasion

Three unidentified people broke into a home in Oak Creek on Saturday night, Aug. 2.

OAK CREEK, Wis. - Oak Creek police are investigating a home invasion that happened on Saturday night, Aug. 2, 2025.

Home invasion

What we know:

According to the Oak Creek Police Department, at about 9:44 p.m., dispatch got a 911 call from a resident who said their home near 27th and Rawson was being broken into, as they were watching it happen on their surveillance cameras.

They also said their two children, one 11 and one 12, were inside the house at the time.

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Police arrived on scene and made phone contact with the two children. The children safely got out of the house and were reunited with their parents.

(Courtesy of Joseph Duke)

The children were not harmed.

Prior to clearing the home, officers reviewed the surveillance footage and saw three unidentified people break into the home. At that point, officers couldn't determine if they had left the home, as there was no footage of that.

Officers cleared the home and ensured nobody else was inside.

"I thank God above"

What they're saying:

The kids’ father, Joseph Duke, said he recently started allowing them to be home alone.

"Me and my wife were out at an event at the yacht club in South Milwaukee. We left our kids home, they didn’t want to come," he said.

"I got a call saying, ‘Dad, someone’s in the house.' When I checked the cameras, I noticed three males kicking in the rear door of the home and proceeded to go through the home."

Neighbors stood on high alert.

"I would be going crazy," resident Christl Billmeyer said. "It's very scary to have something like that happen."

Duke and his daughter both called 911.

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"They opened up their closet door and locked themselves in," Duke said. "They were a little emotional, but they said, ‘Dad, we did everything you told us to do.’"

(Courtesy of Joseph Duke)

He said his daughter saw one of the suspects with a gun, and he is grateful no one was hurt.

"I thank God above that he spared my kids," Duke said.

Dig deeper:

Police are investigating. The family said the motive is unclear because nothing was stolen.

No arrests have been made.