By Jennifer Edwards
The Cincinnati Enquirer

FAIRFIELD TWP. - When the masked gunman slipped into her house through an unlocked door, Debra Fink was lying on her bed, watching a noon news report about a double murder in neighboring Hamilton.

The robber aimed the gun at Fink's 17-year-old daughter, Angie, as Angie's 1-year-old baby, Destiny, sat nearby in a stroller, Fairfield Township police said. He demanded Debra Fink's purse, then ran over and pushed open the bedroom door.

Waving the gun, he yelled for her purse, but Fink, 39, rolled off the bed onto the floor. He fired a shot into the wall over her head, snatched up her black leather purse and ran out the front door, according to police reports.

"Things like this just don't happen here. We're Mayberry," said Debra Fink's husband, Jeff. "

The Finks say they believe the gunman is someone they know because he apparently was after the powerful painkiller OxyContin in Debra Fink's purse.

Disabled since a drunken driver struck her as she crossed High Street in Hamilton several years ago, she was prescribed the drug to ease pain, her husband said.

When the gunman bolted out of the house in the 1800 block of Allstatter Avenue, her husband was just pulling up in the driveway after buying gas.

Jeff Fink sprinted after the man, but "he pointed the gun at me and yelled, `If you don't stop, I'll shoot you in the middle of the street,'" Fink, 43, recalled.

The gunman remained on the lam late Tuesday. A physical description was not available. Police said he wore a navy ski mask, blue jeans, short black leather jacket and dark brown high-top shoes.

"We have no reason to believe this was anything other than strictly a random occurrence," Police Chief Richard St. John said.

"In suburbs like Fairfield Township, we are fortunate this type of thing doesn't happen often, but that doesn't mean it will never happen. Lock your doors."

E-mail jedwards@enquirer.com.