A 12-year-old North Carolina boy fatally shot an armed intruder in self-defense after the suspect broke into a home with an accomplice during a robbery attempt that resulted in the boy’s 73-year-old grandmother also getting shot, police said.
According to NBC News, the incident occurred at an apartment in Goldsboro on Saturday, February 13. The police said the two intruders, who were masked and armed, forced their way into the apartment and demanded money from the occupants. During the confrontation, the intruders allegedly shot the 12-year-old boy’s grandmother.
The police said the boy also opened fire on the intruders, causing them to run away. One of the suspects, identified as 19-year-old Khalil Herring, sustained a gunshot wound. “A 12-year-old juvenile occupant of the residence shot at the suspects with a firearm in self-defense, causing them to flee the area,” officials wrote in a statement, according to WRAL.
Police said they found Herring at an intersection around the neighborhood and transported him to the hospital for treatment. Herring, however, succumbed to his injuries. “Preliminary evidence suggest Khalil Herring was one of the two masked intruders and was shot during the robbery,” the statement said.
The boy’s grandmother was treated for non-life-threatening injuries. Speaking to the news outlet, the woman’s great-niece expressed her shock at what happened. “My phone was constantly ringing, and ringing and ringing,” she said. “I just couldn’t believe she been shot because she’s a good person.”
The Goldsboro Police Department is not expected to bring charges against the 12-year-old boy. It is, however, investigating the incident. The second suspect is also yet to be apprehended.
“Why would somebody come into her house and do this? It’s got to stop,” the woman’s great-niece said. “I don’t know what they’re thinking around here in Goldsboro, but it’s got to stop.”
