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The Michigan Statement Police Department said in a press release Friday,per ABC News, that an “unknown male appeared from the woods” and entered the siblings' property in a rural area of Alpena County on Wednesday, when the 8-year-old girl was mushroom hunting.
“The suspect had come through the woods onto the property and came from behind her, grabbed her like you’d see in the movies — hand over the mouth, arm around the waist — and was attempting to pull her into the woods,” Lieutenant John Grimshaw from the Michigan State Police Departmenttold WGTU.
Grimshaw said that the girl’s older brother witnessed what was happening and used a slingshot to fire two shots at the suspect — one to his head and the other to his chest — which allowed his sister to break free. The suspect, identified as a 17-year-old from Alpena, then fled the area, he added.
The Michigan Statement Police Department did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
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Praising the teen who saved his sibling, Grimshaw said, “He really is the one that I believe saved his sister’s, either life, or [from] something seriously bad happening to her. For a 14-year-old to see that and pop into action that quickly is extraordinary, and he should be commended for it.”
“You wouldn’t think in this world that if you were playing in your own backyard or on your own property that you would be concerned about something like this, but it just goes to show that there’s evil out there, and it can find anybody anywhere,” he added.
The perpetrator was taken into custody and allegedly confessed that he “planned on severely beating the victim,” police said, per ABC News.
According toNBC News, the suspect has been charged as an adult with one count of attempted kidnapping/child enticement, one count of attempted assault to do great bodily harm less than murder and one count of assault and battery. His name has not been released.
source: people.com
