12-Year-Old North Carolina Boy Fatally Shoots Home Intruder Who Attacked Grandmother

A 12-year-old boy in North Carolina fatally shot a home intruder who attacked his grandmother at their home.

Police said the incident happened around 12:30 a.m. ET Saturday at the home in Goldsboro. Two masked men, who broke into 73-year-old Linda Ellis' home, shot her in the leg after demanding money. It was then that the juvenile shot the intruders, forcing them to flee, NY Daily News reported.

"A 12-year-old juvenile occupant of the residence shot at the suspects with a firearm in self-defense, causing them to flee the area," officials said in a statement.

Shortly after the incident, the police found 19-year-old Khalil Herring with a gunshot wound at the intersection of William Street and Elm Street. He was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was declared dead.

"Preliminary evidence suggests Khalil Herring was one of the two masked intruders and was shot during the robbery," the statement said.

Meanwhile, Ellis is in a stable condition at Wayne UNC Health Care where she is being treated for a non-life-threatening injury.

Ellis' son and the boy's great uncle Randolph Bunn, "They came in the house, I open the door, I open it, and they came in there... One guy had a gun. They just put me down on the ground..." The [73-year-old woman] was in the kitchen, I don't know why they shot her," ABC11 reported.

"[The intruder] just shot his grandma... He would have shot him too, he would've shot me too, he would've killed us all," Bunn continued.

According to the Goldsboro police, the investigation was underway, and charges against the 12-year-old were not anticipated.

Chiquita Coley, Ellis' great-niece, said she couldn't believe what happened.

“My phone was constantly ringing, and ringing and ringing," Coley said. “I just couldn’t believe she been shot because she’s a good person. Why would somebody come into her house and do this? It’s got to stop. I don’t know what they’re thinking around here in Goldsboro, but it’s got to stop,” NBC-affiliated WRAL-TV reported.

Last year, a 17-year-old boy was shot and killed by a resident after he, along with an accomplice, invaded a home on Doris Drive. The second invader fled immediately after Joseph Taylor was shot, before the police arrived. Taylor was declared dead on the scene.