It was an ordinary afternoon back home from school when Owen Burns heard his sister screaming. He was annoyed at the intrusion her screaming brought, thinking nothing sinister of her squeals for help.
But when he looked out his window, he was shocked but recovered quickly enough to make a life-saving decision.
Owen Burns was settling in to play his favorite game “Call of Duty: Black Ops II” on his PlayStation 3 when he heard his sister screaming from their yard. The 13-year-old thought she was goofing around and became annoyed.
Moments later the teenager looked out his bedroom window to see a stranger trying to drag his 8-year-old sister to the woods edging their home.
The panicked teenager grabbed his slingshot and got his hands on any immediate ammunition he could find; a marble and a rock. He directly aimed at the kidnapper and hit him squarely between the eyes.
The second time, he hit him in the chest. “He was swearing. He was cussing,” Owen told the press.
The encounter happened at the Burns’ home in Alpena Township in Michigan in broad daylight. Their mother Maggie Burns noted that kidnappings were unheard of in the area.
At the end of the encounter, his 8-year-old sister was safe albeit probably traumatized from the incident. The kidnapper was a 17-year-old that the Michigan State Police did not identify but have confirmed will be charged as an adult.
“He really is the one that … I believe saved his sister’s either life or from something seriously bad happening to her,” Lt. John Grimshaw said at a news conference, calling Owen’s actions “extraordinary.” This young boy’s actions were nothing short of heroic!
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