Just as the biblical figure David fought Goliath and won, a 14-year-old boy in Michigan reportedly saved his sister by shooting her potential kidnapper with a slingshot, according to police.
The Guardian reported that law enforcement described the brother’s action as “extraordinary” and that the boy should be “commended after defending his sister.”
What do we know about the kidnapping? The alleged attacker reportedly approached the family’s property through the woods in Alpena Township on May 10.
State Police Lt. John Grimshaw told local news channel WGTU, “The suspect had come through the woods on to the property and came from behind her, grabbed her like you’d see in the movies — hand over the mouth, arm around the waist — and was attempting to pull her into the woods.”
The 14-year-old who witnessed the crime hit his sister’s alleged attacker “in the head and chest using a slingshot,” according to U.S. News and World Report.
“For a 14-year-old to see that and pop into action that quickly is extraordinary and he should be commended for it,” a spokesperson on the case told CBS News.
NBC Chicago reported that the potential kidnapper was a 17-year-old, whose name has not been given to the public, and is being “charged as an adult with one count of attempted kidnapping/child enticement, one count of attempted assault to do great bodily harm less than murder, and one count of assault and battery.”
Quotes to note: “You wouldn’t think if you were playing in your own back yard or on your own property that you have to be concerned about something like this, but it just goes to show that there is evil out there,” a spokesperson for the Michigan State Police said.
The spokesperson continued, “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.”