Video Surveillance Catches 12 Year Old Boy Firing A Gun Inside Gas Station While Trying To Rob Them

On Wednesday, June 1, close to 3:50 p.m., a 12-year-old boy fired a gun while robbing a gas station in Hartford, MI. The incident was captured on surveillance camera video.

The boy is seen pointing a gun at a clerk and forcing the clerk to hand over money from the cash register. He was apprehended a short time later, close to the gas station.

When the clerk had asked the boy if the child was serious, the boy fired one round from a 9mm weapon. Then, the clerk retrieved a bag from a safe that had $5,000 in it and gave it to the boy before he left the store at 4 p.m.

The clerk quickly called authorities and asked customers to lock the door. She told dispatchers that she thought a 10-year-old robbed her.

Police say that the middle schooler discussed committing an armed robbery while at school. He has been accused of asking other students which gas stations were the best to rob and came up with Marathon. Because students didn’t believe him, they didn’t tell anyone.

Authorities say that the boy got the gun from a safe that was locked. It belonged to his father, and somehow, the boy figured out the code. The father told police that he doesn’t know how the boy was able to get inside of it, and investigators say that it didn’t appear to be a forced entry into the safe.

The boy told police that he hadn’t robbed the store for the money, but he didn’t offer another motive.

The 12-year-old will be held in a juvenile detention center until he has a hearing on June 9.