- Video surveillance captured the moment a 12-year-old boy fired a gun while committing a robbery.
- The boy fired a warning shot when questioned by the cashier at a gas station.
- Police said he stole several thousand dollars, but was caught soon after, per local media.
A 12-year-old boy fired a warning shot as he robbed a gas station in Hartford, Michigan, on June 1, police said, per local media reports.
The boy, who wasn't named because he is a juvenile, pointed the handgun at the gas station cashier, held up a black backpack, and told her to "put the money in the bag."
"Are you serious?" the cashier asked, walking to a safe under the counter.
The child responded by firing the gun into the ceiling, prompting the cashier to hastily hand him the money.
According to CBS affiliate WWMT, the boy ran off with several thousand dollars but was soon caught and had both the gun and money confiscated.
—No Jumper (@nojumper) June 5, 2022
"It flabbergasts me that a young person, broad daylight, no mask, would walk right in the business with other customers, announce an armed robbery, and when he was challenged by the clerk to fire a round into the ceiling," Hartford policeman Lt. Michael Prince told the outlet.
The boy, who was identified as a student at Hartford Middle School, told police that he took the gun from a locked cabinet in his home, WMMT reported.
The boy was taken to the Allegan County Juvenile Center and is expected to be arraigned on Thursday at a juvenile court in Paw Paw, Michigan, Prince told the outlet.
While no one was harmed during the robbery, the incident occurred as the country grapples with a slew of mass shootings over the last few weeks, including an elementary school massacre in Uvalde, Texas, where 19 children and two teachers were shot dead.
According to the Gun Violence Archive, the US is now on track to match or surpass its worst year on record for the number of mass shootings,