An eight-year-old girl was saved by her older brother after he fired his slingshot at her kidnapper.
On Wednesday, 10 May, police were called to a home in Alpena Township, Michigan, after a girl was nearly abducted while hunting for mushrooms in the woods nearby.
However, coming to her rescue in the knick of time, the eight-year-old's brother, aged 13, spotted her in distress and shot at the kidnapper with his slingshot.
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Brother of the year - if not lifetime - award certainly goes to him.
The victim's 13-year-old brother is reported to have run out of their family home after seeing the kidnapper emerge from the woods carrying his younger sister and covering her mouth.
The 13-year-old allegedly picked up his slingshot and grabbed random items which he then proceeded to fire at the kidnapper's chest and head.
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Commander of the local post of Michigan State Troopers, Lieutenant John Grimshaw, explained it was the eight-year-old's brother's good aim which caused the kidnapper to let go of the young girl.
He said, as per 9and10news: "He was able to grab his slingshot and was able to slingshot something that hit hit the suspect right in the head. And that caused him to let go. The girl was able to struggle and get away and he shot another one hit the suspect in the chest and then fled the scene."
The victim's uncle took to Facebook to raise awareness of the incident.
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The post reads: "Hey everyone earlier today my niece was almost kidnapped out of her own yard here in Alpena on the south end of town, a young 17-year-old with a black mohawk grab my niece and tried kidnapping her my nephew heard her screaming and saw through his window and shot the guy with a slingshot the guy let go cops were called found out that the guy now in custody.
"Our kids are too precious to let somebody try to take them when your kids are outside paying, we really need to pay attention to what they're doing and who's around them I'm very proud of my nephew and I know my niece's traumatized and I'm sending prayers for her they had to be extremely scary for her."
The 13-year-old boy's good aim on the slingshot also helped police catch the kidnapper because the suspect sustained injuries from the shots - visible on his head and chest.
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The kidnapper was picked up by police at a nearby gas station and is reported as having confessed to grabbing the young girl.
The 17-year-old kidnapper is currently in prison in the juvenile section of the facility and faces one count of attempted kidnapping/ child enticement, one count of assault and battery and one count of attempted assault to do great bodily harm less than murder.
He is set to appear in court on 17 May.
Topics: US News, Crime, True crime, Parenting
Poppy Bilderbeck