14-year-old had seconds to act — and used an unexpected weapon to save his sister from a kidnapper

Fourteen-year-old Owen Burns had a $3 slingshot that his mom, Margaret Burns, had picked up from a clearance sale. But he wasn’t allowed to use it at home, because he would occasionally break things. On May 10, 2023, he was playing a video game in his room when he heard his sister's screams from outside. He ran outside to find a strange man trying to kidnap his sister. The man had his hands over her mouth, with one arm holding her around her waist, trying to pull her into the woods. Burns had seconds to act. The quick-thinking boy grabbed his slingshot and hit the stranger, first with a green marble on his head and then with a gravel rock on his chest, according to a report by NPR.

 “It just felt like I was scared, and I had … to do something," Burns told CNN, “Cause if I didn’t … she would’ve been taken away or … worse.” Thanks to his unlikely weapon, the girl was freed from the kidnapper’s grasp and rushed back inside the house. "I shot him in the head and chest, and she starts running," Burns recalled. "I said, 'It's alright, he can't hurt you now.'" Burns might be humble about it, but police officers are comparing his act to what the historical king of Israel did in the underdog story of David versus Goliath.

“You wouldn’t think in this world that if you were playing in your own backyard, or own your own property, that you would be concerned about something like this, but it just shows that there’s evil out there and it can find anybody anywhere,” Michigan State Police 1st Lt. John Grimshaw told NBC News. The 8-year-old girl was hunting mushrooms in the backyard of her Alpena Township home in Northern Michigan when this stranger emerged from the woods and tried to kidnap her. At the time of this report, Margaret revealed that the girl was still processing what happened but has been recovering since. Grimshaw lauded Burns' actions as "extraordinary." "He really is the one that I believe saved his sister's life, or from something seriously bad happening to her,” he added.

Once the slingshot shooed away the kidnapper, the Burns family notified other family members so they could remain on the lookout, and then the police. The police later found the kidnapper in a Big Lots store, inside a gas station bathroom. The injuries he had suffered from the slingshot made it easier for them to identify the suspect, who turned out to be a 17-year-old. The Michigan State Troopers caught him. Detectives revealed that the teenager was struggling with anger issues and was looking for someone to physically assault, state police Sergeant Smith told CNN. He confessed that he was planning to severely beat her to project his anger issues.

“I was just lucky – he’s just a big target because he’s not like one Pepsi can,” Owen said, per The Guardian. Once the news of the incident got out, their neighbours in Alpena overwhelmed the quick-witted boy with tremendous support. “I get a bunch of money for no reason,” Owen told the outlet. “I’m grateful for all of that, but you don’t have to give me all the stuff for no reason. I know I did something right, but it’s just me.”

In the meantime, the suspect was arrested, charged with kidnapping and attempted murder, and was put in Alpena County Jail on a $150,000 bond. The incident highlighted what Inspector Grimshaw said, that there is evil out there and it can find anyone anywhere, but with a little bit of nimble-wittedness, one can overcome it.

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