Thirteen-year-old boy shoots burglar dead with mom’s gun while he is home alone
Thirteen-year-old boy shoots burglar dead with mom’s gun while he is home alone
A 13-year-old boy who was at home alone used his mother’s gun to fend off two would-be burglars, killing one of them in the process, say police in Ladson, South Carolina.
The Charleston County Sheriff’s Office reported that the boy said he heard someone trying to get into his family’s Elderwood Drive home Tuesday afternoon, so he got his mother’s gun and went to the back door of the home.
Authorities said the boy told them he fired the gun at a person outside, and the person fired back.
Two men, Lamar Anthwan Brown, 31, of Summerville, and Ira Bennett, 28, of North Charleston, fled in a gray Chevy Sonic after being shot at by the boy, say police.
Bennett reportedly drove Brown to a hospital, and then took off.
Brown died at Trident Medical Center of his gunshot wounds, according to The Post and Courier.
Bennett has been charged with first-degree burglary and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime.
According to authorities, the boy, who is not being identified because of his age, became suspicious of an unfamiliar gray car that had pulled up behind his house.
At this point he ‘became concerned for his safety’ and grabbed his mother’s pistol. He began firing at a man who tried to enter the house.
The man fired back as he fled in the car.
Police later discovered a Colt .45 pistol in the backyard of the Ladson home, one that did not belong to the family.
The teen’s mom told police that while she kept a gun in the house, she never trained her son to use it. However, she instructed him to use it if he had to.
‘I tell my kids that if anything ever happens to call 911, but I also tell them to protect themselves if they have to,’ she told the outlet.
‘I never would have dreamed that this would have been a part of our day today.’
The mom was at work at Moncks Corner when her son called her to tell her what happened.
She told him to call police.
The teen is usually home during the day, his mom said, because he attends an online school. She added that there are usually family members present, but this time the boy was alone.
Meanwhile, a neighbor, Debbie Griffin, called 911 after hearing about six shots fired.
She said her son was outside at the time and witnessed the attempted burglary.
Both Bennett and Brown have extensive criminal histories, according to the outlet.
Bennett, who survived the shooting, has been previously convicted of assault with intent to kill, pointing a firearm at a person and third-degree burglary.
He has also been convicted of possession of a controlled substance, manufacturing and distributing a controlled substance, and possession of marijuana.
