MSP: Teen uses slingshot to fend off man trying to abduct sister

ALPENA COUNTY, Mich., (WPBN/WGTU) -- An Alpena County teenager likely saved his younger sister from being abducted after Michigan State Police said he used his slingshot to fend off the attacker.

Troopers said the 8-year-old girl was mushroom hunting in her backyard Wednesday when a man, later identified as 17-year-old, emerged from the woods and tried to take her.

The victim’s 14-year-old brother saw what was happening, troopers said, and shot the suspect with his slingshot in the head and chest, sending him on the run.

Alpena Post Troopers eventually found the suspect hiding at a nearby gas station.

Troopers said he had obvious injuries from the slingshot with wounds to his head and chest.

He was subsequently taken into custody and transported to the post for an interview.

The suspect ultimately confessed to post detectives that he planned on severely beating the victim.

The seventeen-year-old suspect was lodged in the Alpena County Jail without incident. The juvenile suspect was arraigned in the 88th District Court on May 11, 2023, on one count of Attempted Kidnapping/Child Enticement, one count of Attempted Assault to do Great Bodily Harm Less than Murder, and one count of Assault and Battery.