Two men are facing attempted murder charges in connection with a violent home invasion that left an elderly man injured in Dartmouth.

Police responded to a break-in at a home on Bonita Drive shortly after 2:30 a.m. Sunday.

Investigators say the resident, a 75-year-old man, awoke to a commotion and found two suspects breaking into his firearm storage cabinet.

The man confronted the suspects, who allegedly hit him over the head with one of his own rifles several times.

The man suffered severe facial injuries and was taken to hospital.

“We’re talking about a number of broken bones in his face. He underwent surgery and he remains in hospital with serious injuries, so it was a violent attack,” says Const. Pierre Bourdages with the Halifax Regional Police.

Police say the victim’s wife was also home at the time, but she was not injured.

The suspects fled the scene and took several firearms with them.

On Monday, an anonymous caller contacted police and provided information on the location of one of the stolen firearms.

Investigators followed up on the tip and located the firearm inside an apartment in the 2400 block of Gottingen Street in Halifax. Officers were then led to an apartment in the 5500 block of Bloomfield Street, where a suspect was arrested without incident.

Officers executed a search warrant at the apartment and located a loaded handgun that had been stolen from the home in Dartmouth. 

The investigation then led officers to the 100 block of Lacewood Drive in Halifax, where a second suspect was spotted carrying several firearms wrapped in a blanket.

He was arrested without incident. Police allege the firearms had also been stolen during the break-in.

“Altogether, we recovered seven stolen firearms,” says Bourdages.

Tyrone Nelson Francis, 20, of Timberlea and Eliahs Knudsen Kent, 22, of Halifax were held in custody overnight.

They appeared in court on Tuesday to face a slew of charges, including attempted murder, aggravated assault, assault with a weapon, break and enter, disguise with intent, break and enter to steal a firearm, robbery, robbery to steal a firearm, and several other firearm-related offences.

Francis and Kent are both due back in Dartmouth provincial court on Friday.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Matt Woodman