13-year-old was 'freaking out' after hearing little sister's scream outside home - then he picked up slingshot to save her
Sibling relationships are one of the most powerful bonds to exist. This intact connection brings out love and action like never before. 13-year-old Owen Burns from Michigan devised a brilliant plan to save his 8-year-old sister in the spur of the moment with his slingshot, per NPR. Somewhat like the David and Goliath story, Burns spectacularly stepped in to rescue his sister using a slingshot. The Michigan State Police revealed that the little girl was in her yard when the suspect, a 17-year-old man, tried to abduct her, per Upnorth Live. Burns vigilantly noticed his sister screaming and jumped into action.
The boy recalled initially thinking that it was just her sister’s friends “messing around,” per CBS News. However, when he heard the scream, he rushed to check out what was wrong. "So I looked out the window and saw her being abducted by a person and I was freaking out," he said. The teenage boy quickly grabbed his slingshot and opened the window to aim two shots at the man’s head and chest, prompting him to escape, leaving the girl behind. “I had to grab a rock and a marble right next to it. I grabbed it, I put it in here and I just shot it,” the boy said, per CNN. Burns reportedly shot him once with a green marble and once with a gravel rock.
As soon as the man was hit, he let go of the 8-year-old, allowing her to escape and run to safety. “I said, 'It's alright, he can't hurt you now,’” the teenage boy recalled. Burns’ father, Andrew, recalled the boy being great with using his BB and Nerf gun as a kid and praised his intellectual use of his slingshot to save a life. “He’s a good shot, he always has been,” the proud dad said. His mom, Margaret, added that she was often worried about him having his slingshot around in the house. However, seeing how the teen saved his sister and himself from danger with the same was “very impressive.” 1st Lt. John Grimshaw commended Burns for his "extraordinary" act, per NBC.
"He really is the one that I believe saved his sister's life or from something seriously bad happening to her," the officer remarked. The Alpena Post Troopers spotted the man with obvious slingshot injuries and had him taken into custody where he confessed. "What [Burns] did also helped us to identify who the suspect was because he had injuries from getting hit with a slingshot. Those were things that helped us evidentiary-wise to identify who it was, so that was very valuable too," Grimshaw added. The young man was rewarded for his valor but Burns was just glad to be a good, protective brother. “I get a bunch of money for no reason. I’m grateful for all of that but you don’t have to give me all that stuff for no reason. I know I did something right but it’s just me,” he noted.