A Centurion family’s quiet night turned into a nightmare when three armed suspects allegedly invaded their home and shot their young girl.

The family of 4 residing in Laezonia, speaking to Rekord, said they are still reeling from shock after their 12-year-old girl was shot.

They described the invasion that occurred in the early hours of March 13 as terrifying.

According to the girl’s mother, Jenny-Lee Scheepers, the family was asleep when, at about 01:25, they were awakened by a disturbance.

“My husband woke up and leapt over me from his side of the bed. He heard something, but everything happened so fast he can’t remember exactly what woke him up,” she explained.

As her husband, Justice Scheepers, ran out of the main bedroom upstairs to investigate, he encountered one of the intruders on the staircase.

“I just saw my husband walking backwards slowly into the bedroom with his hands raised,” she said.

Realising something was wrong, Jenny-Lee instinctively tried to defuse the situation.

“I asked him, ‘Do you want money?’ He said yes, and I handed him my cellphone. He then took my husband’s notebook.”

In that moment, their daughter Lara (12) came out of her bedroom, also located upstairs.

“The intruder saw her and got a fright. He turned towards her, lowered his gun and fired two shots before running downstairs,” Jenny-Lee said.

Downstairs, the couple’s 16-year-old son, Logan, had encountered two other suspects waiting at the bottom of the staircase.

Logan attempted to defend the family by reaching for a heavy ornament on the television stand to use as a weapon.

However, the suspects struck him in the chest with a pipe and ordered him to stay down. The three suspects then fled the property.

“I ran to the balcony and screamed for our neighbours, who share the same property. They hurried out and saw the men running away.”

According to Ruan Heynes, spokesperson for Cert-SA, emergency crews responded to a shooting incident at a residential smallholding in Laezonia.

“Upon arrival, crews found that a 12-year-old girl had sustained three gunshot wounds to her legs during an alleged home invasion,” he said.

Medical personnel stabilised the girl at the scene before transporting her to hospital in a stable condition.

“She had surgery on Saturday morning to repair broken bones in her foot and to remove bullet fragments,” said Jenny-Lee.

While the incident has left the family shaken, she said they are amazed by their daughter’s resilience.

“Mentally and emotionally, we have all been so surprised by how well she is handling it. She hasn’t cried once. She has no hate in her heart; she is laughing and doing well.”

The family plans to arrange counselling for Lara and Logan once she is discharged from the hospital.

Only a cellphone and a notebook were stolen during the incident.

Jenny-Lee expressed heartfelt gratitude to the community and emergency responders.

“There were so many people and security on our premises within minutes of calling for help. It was absolutely incredible,” she said.

Rekord reached to the police for comment, no feedback was given at the time of publication.

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