'He was going to blow my brains out': Two boys pull loaded gun on woman during attempted carjacking

Incident took place in a church car park

Two boys aged seven and 11 have been arrested after allegedly pulling a loaded gun on a woman during an attempted carjacking and robbery in a church car park.

The incident took place near Freedom Foursquare Church in south east Portland, Oregon on Saturday afternoon, with police saying the pair had been armed with a loaded and cocked .22 caliber handgun.

Speaking with the Portland-based television station KATU, the victim Amy Garrett said: “I didn’t think it was real…they were just two really young kids”.

Police were initially called to the scene by another member of the public who reported that a child had seen the 11-year-old boy carrying a loaded handgun.

When they arrived they spotted two boys who police say attempted to run away when officers tried to speak to them.

Upon stopping them, police say one boy refused to take his hands from his pockets, where officers eventually found the loaded gun.

22-year-old Ms Garrett later flagged down police to report the attempted carjacking and identified the two boys as the culprits.

Ms Garrett says she had been sat in a vehicle outside the church waiting for her parents when the incident occurred.

She claims the boys approached her and threatened to shoot her if she did not give them the vehicle.

She says “He was showing me his gun and I asked him if it was real…He said 'you don't ever ask somebody if it's real. That's how you get yourself shot.’”

Ms Garrett said the 7-year-old then told the 11-year-old to “show her your piece.” The 11-year-old then lifted his shirt and showed Ms Garrett the gun.

“He said it was fully-loaded and cocked and ready to go. He told me he was going to blow my brains out if I didn't give him anything.”

When Ms Garrett refused to give the boys her tuck, they demanded she hand over her wallet and phone.

At that point she drove away from the boys, but looked back to see the 11-year-old pull the gun from his pocket. It was then she called the US emergency services number 911.

“My heart was beating a million miles a minute. I'm surprised it didn't completely beat out of my chest. I was very scared,” Garrett said.

Later, while KATU were interviewing Ms Garrett at the scene of the incident, the 11-year-old boy allegedly walked past the group.

He left and did not return when KATU asked to speak with his parents, who are said to live nearby.

Sgt. Pete Simpson said due the boys’ ages, they cannot be taken to the Donald E. Long Juvenile Detention Home. They were both left with their parents.

The boys would be taken to the juvenile detention center and face Measure 11 crimes if they were 15, Simpson said.

It’s unclear where the 11-year-old boy got the handgun. Robbery detectives continue to investigate the case.

“Eventually, I want them to be able to come to the church and have some faith,” said Garrett.

“I want them to have a brighter future because they're not going anywhere bright right now. They're just going down a really bad path,” she added.

Independent Comment
blog comments powered by Disqus
Top stories
News in pictures
World news in pictures
UK news in pictures
UK news in pictures
More stories
       
Independent
Travel Shop
Imperial Cities of Morocco
Seven nights half-board from only £799pp Find out more
Historic Sicily
Seven nights half-board from £799pp Find out more
4* all-inclusive Crete
Seven nights from only £399pp Find out more
Independent Dating
and  

By clicking 'Search' you
are agreeing to our
Terms of Use.

Day In a Page

Andrew Mitchell: 'It's no good feeling hard done by'

Andrew Mitchell: 'It's no good feeling hard done by'

In his first interview since 'plebgate', the former Chief Whip opens up just enough to concede that, in politics, you have to take the rough with the smooth
Corruption and the FCO: Blue skies, white sands, dark clouds

Corruption and the FCO: Blue skies, white sands, dark clouds

Special report: Met police call for criminal inquiry into former diplomat's Cayman Islands rule
Fallen angel: Winona Ryder on bouncing back from her decade in the wilderness

Fallen angel: Winona Ryder bounces back

She owned the 1990s... but then she disappeared. Now, Ms Ryder is back with quite the bang in her latest role, as the wife of a notorious real-life Mob hitman.
Roman Polanski shakes Cannes Film Festival

Roman Polanski shakes Cannes Film Festival

The director's new film, 'Venus in Fur', is one of the raciest on offer
Rev Richard Coles: 'I don’t have any concerns that God is cross with me for being gay and eventually the Church won’t either'

Rev Richard Coles on the Church and homosexuality

The mellifluous, erudite and witty Coles is the nation's most pop-culture-friendly priest
'Baghdad likes to live from crisis to crisis': Civil war looms in Iraq

Patrick Cockburn: Civil war looms in Iraq

The governor of Kirkuk - one of the country's most violent but successful provinces - fears the worst
Written on the body: Tattooists at pains to point out their artistic credentials

Written on the body

Tattooists at pains to point out their artistic credentials
Conquering Everest: 60 facts about the world's tallest mountain

Conquering Everest: 60 facts about the world's tallest mountain

The IoS marks the sixtieth anniversary of Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay first reaching the peak of the highest mountain on Earth
A new, and irreversible, Dust Bowl looms

Rupert Cornwell: A new, and irreversible, Dust Bowl looms

The destructive power of tornadoes will be as nothing once the Great Plains' vast underground water reserve dries up
Every creature's needless death diminshes us all

Philip Hoare: Every creature's needless death diminishes us all

A 60 per cent decline in our national species should alarm us, yet few of us act. But to mind more about animals would reflect well on society
Killing with kindness: Burma's religious battleground - and the monks at the heart of it

Killing with kindness: Burma's religious battleground

Six years ago, the world cheered the monks behind Burma’s Saffron Revolution. Now, a horrific new eruption of religious slaughter is being blamed on a 'Buddhist Bin Laden'.
Let's take it outside: Bill Granger's Bank Holiday feast

Let's take it outside: Bill Granger's Bank Holiday feast

You can’t always depend on the weather – but you can avoid the pitfalls of the British barbecue by preparing an elaborate outdoor feast indoors ahead of time...
The Calvin report: Stirring Champions League final shows how far English game must advance

The Calvin report

Stirring Champions League final shows how far English game must advance
10 big questions for the British & Irish Lions to answer

10 big questions for the British & Irish Lions to answer

Warren Gatland's squad fly Down Under aiming to do justice to the expectations – and hoping the Wallabies stay in the pub
The Last Word: Golf must end the hypocrisy before its halo slips totally

The Last Word

Golf must end the hypocrisy before its halo slips totally