A 12-year-old boy fatally shot a man to protect his grandmother when two intruders broke into her North Carolina home, authorities said.
The incident occurred shortly after 12:30 a.m. Saturday when two masked men entered 73-year-old Linda Ellis’ home in Goldsboro, news station WRAL reported.
The pair demanded money and shot Ellis in the leg, prompting the 12-year-old to open fire, police said.
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"[The intruder] just shot his grandma… He would have shot him too, he would’ve shot me too, he would’ve killed us all," the boy’s great-uncle, Randolph Bunn, told news station WTVD.
The gunfire caused the intruders to flee, but one suspect, Khalil Herring, 19, was found at a nearby intersection suffering from a gunshot wound, police said.
He was brought to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead, officials said.
Meanwhile, Ellis was hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries, authorities said.
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"Why would somebody come into her house and do this? It’s got to stop," Ellis’ great-niece, Chiquita Coley, told WRAL.
No information was released about the second suspect, but authorities said the investigation is ongoing.
Charges are not expected to be filed against the 12-year-old boy, police said.
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