A heroic Michigan boy saved his younger sister from abduction with a slingshot.
The 8-year-old girl, whose name is not being released, had been looking for mushrooms in her backyard when an unidentified 17-year-old boy with a black mohawk stepped out from the woods, grabbed the girl from behind, placing his hand over her mouth to keep her from screaming, and attempted to pull her back into the woods with him.
Her 13-year-old brother, whose name has also not been released, was inside the house when he heard his sister screaming. When he saw the struggle, he pulled out his slingshot, aimed from his bedroom window, and hit the attacker twice, once in the head and once in the chest. The attacker fled back into the woods and the girl was able to run free. Police did not say what the boy shot at the attacker.
The family called the police and told them what happened. The police quickly found the boy at a nearby gas station and were quickly able to identify him because of the marks left by the slingshot. Police say the 17-year-old confessed that he planned to severely beat the girl.
The attacker was charged as an adult with attempted kidnapping, attempted assault to do great bodily harm less than murder, and one count of assault and battery. He’s currently in jail with a $150,000 bond. Kidnappings can be punished by life in prison.
Lieutenant John Grimshaw, commander of the local post of the Michigan state troopers, called the older brother’s actions “extraordinary.” Grimshaw said that he believes the older brother's actions saved the young girl's life and prevented something terrible from happening to her.
Most abductions and kidnappings are done by relatives or close family friends, which makes this attempted kidnapping by a stranger unusual. Fewer than 350 people under the age of 21 have been abducted by strangers in the United States per year, on average, between 2010-2017. Only about 100 cases every year are classified as abductions by strangers.
“I was just lucky,” the 13-year-old brother said. “He’s just a big target because he’s not like one Pepsi can."
Edited by Sean Mulryan
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