14 yr old shoots armed intruder

Post by **ChopperDoc** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 9:24 pm

A 14-year-old Phoenix boy shot an intruder who broke into his home while brandishing a gun as the teenager watched his three younger siblings, police said.

The teen and his brothers and sisters were at home alone at their residence at 55th Avenue and Baseline when a woman rang the doorbell Friday. The teen didn't open the door because he didn't recognize her, Police Officer James Holmes said Saturday.

Soon after, the teen heard a bang on the door, rushed his siblings upstairs and got a handgun from his parent's bedroom. When he got to the top of the stairs, he saw a man breaking through the front door and point a gun at him.

The boy shot the 37-year-old man, who is in critical condition but expected to survive and be booked into jail.

Holmes said the suspect did not get a shot off. He declined to release his name until he is booked into jail.

The woman who rang the home's doorbell got away.

Holmes hailed the teen's actions and his parents for teaching the kids to never open the door to strangers.

"The police and indeed our community does not ever want to see a situation where a teenager of that age has to take a weapon to protect his family ... but this young man did exactly what he should have done," he said. "I'm not sure he gave full thought about what he had to do. He just acted."

Holmes said that the gun the teen grabbed was his father's, but did not know whether the boy had been trained to use it.

He said the family, whose names were not released, is declining to speak to reporters about the ordeal, saying that they "are all pretty traumatized."

"The dad was pretty much out of his mind with distress, officers couldn't even talk to him," Holmes said. "It's going to take them a while to recover mentally."

He said police don't yet know what the suspect's intentions were and that will be one of the first questions they ask him when he is well enough to talk.

"This was mid-block in a neighborhood, at 4:30 in the afternoon in summertime and children are there," he said. "They just took a heck of a gamble for this particular house, and we've got to try to figure out why."

Holmes added that the family is lucky that the teen acted so swiftly and effectively.

"As ugly as this is, and as much as this family is going through, we don't have injured children on our hands," he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/06/23/ph ... z1yfZo52ef

Post by **justang1997** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 9:44 pm

wow. that is an incredible story

Post by **dbh** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 9:45 pm

Damn, wish he killed him !!!

Post by **Rem700** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 10:36 pm

Incredible to say the least! Very happy the kid did what he had to do and protected his family! Too bad the pos lived.

Post by **etownguy** » Sun Jun 24, 2012 1:32 am

this could have have turned into armed robbery results in 4 dead children. So glad to see it did not turn out that way.

Post by **Mike** » Sun Jun 24, 2012 9:05 am

I want to shake this kid's hand.

Post by **325MOUTguru** » Sun Jun 24, 2012 9:07 am

Post by **Wyldman** » Sun Jun 24, 2012 10:29 am

The poor kid is going to need help, & it sounds like his father is going to need some counseling as well. As much as this scum deserved it, I'm glad the kid didn't kill him. I'd hate to see a 14 year old carry that burden.

Post by **Nolan** » Sun Jun 24, 2012 11:02 am

dbh wrote:Damn, wish he killed him !!!

What he said

Post by **Ian** » Sun Jun 24, 2012 12:31 pm

Wyldman wrote:The poor kid is going to need help, & it sounds like his father is going to need some counseling as well. As much as this scum deserved it, I'm glad the kid didn't kill him. I'd hate to see a 14 year old carry that burden.

I agree 100% with this. Protection or not he would have to grow up thinking what he could have done differently. Hopefully he dies in the hospital and the boy will never know. The rest of his childhood is at stake. Just like the lady suing the 11yr old for hitting her with a baseball.

Post by **ChopperDoc** » Sun Jun 24, 2012 12:49 pm

Ian wrote:
Wyldman wrote:The poor kid is going to need help, & it sounds like his father is going to need some counseling as well. As much as this scum deserved it, I'm glad the kid didn't kill him. I'd hate to see a 14 year old carry that burden.
I agree 100% with this. Protection or not he would have to grow up thinking what he could have done differently. Hopefully he dies in the hospital and the boy will never know. The rest of his childhood is at stake. Just like the lady suing the 11yr old for hitting her with a baseball.

That, to me, is the definition of PTSD. Trying to relate what actually happened in a stressful situation that may not have gone as well as we would have liked. If he can come to terms with the FACT that he acted as he needed, then he will head off any PTSD issues.

Post by **dbh** » Sun Jun 24, 2012 1:09 pm

My comment was based on the perp eventually getting out some day and trying to retaliate.

ApexCypher · Post by **ApexCypher** » Sun Jun 24, 2012 3:18 pm

This is a great example of good parenting. Because Im sure like any RESPONSIBLE gun owner there where probably several talks about that paticular firearm, what its for, and safety and use of that firearm. Because of a little bit of good parenting there isnt a news cast with 4 dead children beacause of a bad guy with a high capacity assault pistol of mass destruction. Instead a young man was able to think clearly, stay calm and do what needed to be done to orotect his family. Like said lets hope the family recovers well.

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