Victorian police searching for three teenagers believed to have been involved in an aggravated home invasion earlier this month have been granted permission by the Children's Court to release their names and pictures.
Detective Acting Inspector Brett Kahan said police had been searching for the three boys since "a particularly concerning" break-in at 5:40am on November 17 in Wyndham Vale in Melbourne's west.
The victims of the incident were elderly and faced demands for their car, using "weapons sourced from the house", he said.
He said he could not go into further particulars of the crime, when asked whether a gun was pointed at the chest of one of the victims, as she got out of bed.
"Without being specific to this home invasion I think any crime committed with the use of a firearm is hugely concerning," he said.
Two people have already been charged with aggravated home invasion and theft of a motor vehicle, while Wayward Taskforce detectives have named the remaining three suspects as Deng Kuol, 17, Bafal Gatluak and Mading Nyolic, both aged 16.
"They are actively avoiding police apprehension, they were part of the search warrants that we executed within days of the home invasion," he said.
"We believe them to be still together at times and that they are associating with others in and around the Collingwood, Sunshine and Melton areas," he said.
Detective Acting Inspector Kahan asked Collingwood residents to be vigilant.
He said seeking permission from the Children's Court to release the youth's names was an unusual step, not taken lightly by police.
Under Victorian law, it is illegal to identify children involved in criminal matters unless permission is granted by the president of the Children's Court or a magistrate, subject to specific requirements including the risk to community safety.
"This isn't a step that we would always take but I think it demonstrates the commitment of the taskforce to bring these three into custody," he said.
"We would encourage them to bring themselves into custody and surrender themselves … they certainly know that they're wanted and they certainly know that we're looking for them."
Police have asked anyone who sees the teenagers not to approach them but to call triple zero or Crime Stoppers.
