Teen Boy Saves Little Sister From Assailant, Shoots Him In the Head, Chest With Slingshot

A 13-year-old Michigan boy is being praised for his heroic efforts of saving his 8-year-old sister from an attempted kidnapping.

Despite  “freaking out,” the young boy said he had to do something, “So I grab my slingshot and open the window, and I grab two things — a marble and a gravel rock or something,” Owen Burns told NBC News.

Police said he struck the 17-year-old assailant in the head and chest, which helped his sister get away.

“I was just lucky. He’s just a big target because he’s not like one Pepsi can,” Owen added.

The incident happened on May 10 outside the sibling’s home in Alpena Township. Owen’s sister was outside looking for mushrooms.

“I say, ‘OK, be careful.’ … And then, boom, something happens,” he recalled.

Owen, who was inside playing video games, said he heard his sister screaming but thought she was just “messing around” with friends. But then he heard another scream.

“So I looked out the window and saw her being abducted by a person, and I’m like freaking out,” Owen continued. That’s when he grabbed his slingshot and ran outside.

Owen’s mother, Margaret Burns, was on her way home from work when she got the call from her children.

“They were in a state of panic and screaming, and she was crying,” Margaret Burns added. “And the only word I could make out of the whole conversation was kidnap.”

Police were able to arrest the suspect, who had visible wounds when he was taken into custody.

The teen has been charged with attempted kidnapping and other crimes.

State police 1st Lt. John Grimshaw called the young hero’s actions “extraordinary” and credits him for saving his sister from “something seriously bad happening to her.”

“If I wasn’t out there and I didn’t hear her scream, then she was gone,” he said.