A heroic Michigan teenager was able to prevent his younger sister from being kidnapped by firing off a slingshot at the would-be kidnapper, according to Michigan State Police.
Police said at a May 15 press conference that the 8-year-old girl, who has not been identified, was hunting for mushrooms in her backyard in the city of Alpena on May 10 when she felt the alleged assailant “grab her.”
According to Lt. John Grimshaw with the Michigan State Police Alpena Post, the 17-year-old suspect entered through the woods onto the young girl’s property, and came up behind her before grabbing her “like you’d see in a movie, his hand over the mouth, arm around the waist.”
He then attempted to pull the victim into the woods, Grimshaw said.
However, the girl’s older brother, 14, who has also not been identified, saw a commotion occurring outside and grabbed his slingshot and any “ammunition” he could find before approaching the suspect and firing two shots at him, hitting him in the head and chest.
Thanks to the young boy’s quick-thinking actions, his sister was able to escape the would-be kidnapper, police said.
“He really is the one that I believe saved his sister’s either life or from something seriously bad happening to her,” Grimshaw said. “For a 14-year-old to see that and to pop into action that quickly is extraordinary and he should be commended for it.”
Police found the suspect hiding in a gas station later that same day after being informed about the attempted kidnapping by the girl’s family, Grimshaw said.
He was subsequently arrested, according to officials.
Slingshot Wounds Help Police Identify Suspect
Grimshaw said the would-be kidnapper was easily identifiable owing to the multiple injuries he had sustained from the slingshot.
“What he did also helped us identify who the suspect was because obviously [the suspect] had injuries from being hit with the slingshot and those were things that helped us evidentiary-wise identify who it was,” Grimshaw said of the young boy’s actions.
The suspect has not been named. He allegedly told police during interviews that he planned on severely beating the child, local news outlet Mlive reported.
He has been charged as an adult with one count each of attempted kidnapping/child enticement, attempted assault to do great bodily harm less than murder, and one count of assault and battery, according to the publication.
His bond was set at $150,000 and he is set to appear in court on May 17.
It is unclear if he has legal representation.
The Epoch Times has contacted Michigan State Police for further comment.
Newsweek reported that the siblings’ uncle posted about the incident on Facebook and said the young girl was left “traumatized” by the attempted kidnapping.
In the United States, an estimated 2,300 children are reported missing every day, according to the non-profit organization, Child Find of America.
“You wouldn’t think in this world that when you’re playing in your own backyard or on your own property that you would be concerned about something like this but it just goes to show that there is evil out there and it can find anybody, anywhere,” Grimshaw said.
From The Epoch Times
