A 12-year-old boy has been arrested in Michigan for holding up a petrol station at gunpoint.
The boy walked into a petrol station in Hartford, Michigan, and patiently waited behind another customer, before he approached the woman behind the counter and told her to hand over the cash.
Footage of the incident shows the schoolboy telling the cashier: “Put the money in bag,” as he pulls a gun out of his backpack.
The petrol station worker is taken aback and asks him to repeat himself before asking: “Are you serious?”
Advert
The boy then points the gun towards the ceiling and fires off a shot, prompting the cashier to scramble behind the counter and grab the bag of money.
“Here. Get out. Bye. Take it,” she says as she drops the cash into his backpack.
With the money in his bag, the kid then walks out of the store and runs off.
Advert
Hartford Police Chief Tressa Beltran told WZZM 13 she was returning to the police department when she received the call about the robbery and was at the petrol station within 90 seconds.
The boy was picked up and arrested a few blocks away from where the robbery took place.
Lieutenant Mike Prince told WZZM 13 the boy explained to officers that he ‘hadn’t done it for the money’.
Prince said: "He told us he didn't do it for the money. He said he would've thrown the money into the sewer. He wouldn't give us an explanation why he did it."
Advert
According to police the boy had talked to a school friend about which petrol station would be the easiest to rob.
Prince added: “Every day I’m seeing something new at this job. I’ve been a full-time police officer for 38 years. What really flabbergasted me is that he showed no emotion.”
According to Hartford Police, the boy got the gun from his granddad's locked gun safe.
Advert
The granddad, who is the boy’s legal guardian, told cops he didn’t know the boy was able to get into the safe.
Speaking after the incident the petrol station worker told WWMT: "I thought he was a kid, not even 10 years old.
"He sounded way too calm.
"I seriously thought it was a prank until I heard the gun go off."
Advert
The clerk, who has only been identified as Jennifer, said the sound of the gun shot triggered her instincts.
She added: "I always thought if I were robbed I'm giving them the money, no amount of money is worth my life.”
If you have a story you want to tell, send it to UNILAD via [email protected]
Claire Reid