A Brother with a Slingshot
“David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone” (1 Sam. 17:50a).
Imagine a stranger grabbing your 8-year-old sister from behind, hand over her mouth to keep her from screaming. You’re a 14-year-old boy. You watch her gathering mushrooms in her backyard when he sneaks up and grabs her. What would you do?
In the news stories I read, neither the victim, her brother, nor the assailant were named. Still, the story is heroic. It was mid-May in Alpena, Michigan, 2023. Lt. John Grimshaw, of the Michigan State Patrol reported on the incident. “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,” he said.
That’s when brother sprang into action. Taking his slingshot and grabbing whatever “ammo” he could find, he proceeded to fire at the assailant, hitting him in the head and chest. With that, the would-be kidnapper dropped the girl and ran.
State troopers called to the scene shortly found the suspect hiding at a nearby gas station. His slingshot wounds gave him away. “The suspect had obvious signs of injury sustained from the slingshot with wounds to his head and chest,” police said. Looks like brother cranked that slingshot up to max velocity!
After he was taken into custody and placed in the Alpena County jail, the assailant confessed. He said that he “planned on severely beating the victim,” police reported.
This 14-year-old brother was hailed as a hero by local police, calling his actions “extraordinary.” “He really is the one that … I believe saved his sister’s either life or from something seriously bad happening to her,” Grimshaw told the local TV station. “He should be commended for it.”
There must be something special about family love when a young teen will fearlessly attack an older adversary to save his sister. That’s exactly what he did.
Makes you glad he knew how to shoot that thing, doesn’t it‽
Rod MacArthur
206.949.0325
rod_macarthur@comcast.net
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