A 12-year-old boy shot two home intruders who shot his grandmother in the leg Saturday morning. One of the intruders died from his injuries and the other is at large.
At around 12:30 a.m. in Goldsboro, North Carolina, two masked men broke into the home of 73-year-old Linda Ellis on South William Street in an attempted robbery, according to WITN. The two men demanded money from the elderly woman, eventually shooting Ellis in the leg as the situation intensified, police said.
“One guy had a gun,” Ellis’ son Randolph Bunn told WTVD. “They just put me on the ground.”
After the men shot Ellis, her grandson retrieved a gun and began firing at the intruders, striking one of the men.
WTVD reported that the men fled the scene as police were responding. Officers arrived at the home to find Ellis struggling with a gunshot wound in her leg, and she was rushed to a local hospital.
The man shot by Ellis’ grandson was discovered lying in an intersection close to the home. After being taken to Wayne UNC Health Care hospital, the suspect was pronounced dead. The man was later identified by police as 19-year-old Khalil Herring.
The other armed suspect has not been found, police said.
Michael Lozano, a reporter for WTVD, shared photos that showed shattered glass from the incident on Twitter.
Bunn said he didn’t know why the men went after his senior citizen mother.
Chiquita Coley, Ellis’ niece, said she was shocked to find out that her aunt had been attacked.
“I just couldn’t believe she’d been shot,” Coley told WTVD. “She’s a good person…God had his hands over us. My aunt is a church lady, she’s saved, and God protected her. It just wasn’t her time, so I thank God.”
Ellis’ niece said people in the North Carolina town “just keep shooting” one another, noting that crime in the area has been terrible.
“There’s gotta be another way,” Coley said.
According to WTVD, the Goldsboro Police Department said they do no expect any charges to be levied against the 12-year-old boy defended his grandmother’s home against the armed invaders.
“[The intruder] just shot his grandma… He would have shot him too, he would’ve shot me too, he would’ve killed us all,” Bunn said.
Over the weekend, President Joe Biden marked the third anniversary of the deadly Parkland, Florida, school shooting on Sunday by asking Congress to pass strict gun control, including an “assault weapon” ban.
At the end of his statement, Biden said simply, “I am calling on Congress to enact commonsense gun law reforms, including requiring background checks on all gun sales, banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and eliminating immunity for gun manufacturers who knowingly put weapons of war on our streets.”
Biden’s campaign website included his vows to ban online gun and ammo sales, limit gun sales, ban “assault weapons,” force gun owners into buybacks or registration, and various other restrictions.
