NORWALK, Calif. --A 7-year-old California boy described to reporters Wednesday how he managed to hide in a bathroom and call 911 while armed gunmen threatened to kill his family.

The attackers entered the Norwalk residence about 8:30 a.m. Tuesday.

That's when Carlos locked himself and his 6-year-old sister in the bathroom.

"They were next to the door with my mom and dad … putting their hands up and their heads down. Me and my sister were at the bathroom, calling 911," said Carlos.

Police aren't releasing the family's last name, because the home invaders are still at large.

The second-grader told police dispatcher Monique Patino, who has young children of her own, to send help.

"Um, they come... they ring the door, and they have guns to shoot my mom and dad... Can you come really fast? Bring cops. Lots of them," Carlos told the dispatcher.

When Patino informed the boy that officers were on the way, he said, "And bring soldiers, too."

Then one of the men forced open the bathroom door, took the phone from Carlos and asked him which number he had dialed.

"911," he said, according to police.

"I didn't know what happened to them. All I heard was them screaming last, and the voices fading, so I was horrified. I was nervous. I got very shaky," said Patino.

Although screams could be heard in the background of the 911 audio, the boy's parents were not shot.

"That was the hardest part, just hearing the kid screaming," said Patino.

Detectives were trying to determine the motive for the break-in.

Capt. Patrick Maxwell of the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department said the 6-year-old girl had left the front door open after running to the family's car to grab her lunch box.

The assailants burst in soon after.

"We don't know if it was random. We don't know if it was targeted," Maxwell said.

Deputies were at the scene within three minutes, but the assailants had escaped in a green or gray two-door compact car, Jensen said.

Carlos said there were three assailants and two of them had guns.

"When one of the cops cars came, they just ran," Carlos told reporters.

Police plan to have Carlos work with a sketch artist to create a composite sketch.

"If not for the brave and educated actions of the 7-year-old boy, this might have ended tragically. If a witness can provide more information on these suspects, we can stop this from happening to someone else," said Maxwell.

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