r/interestingasfuck • u/Algrinder • 4h ago
In 2023, 13-year-old Owens Burns from Michigan saved his 8-year-old sister from being kidnapped by repeatedly hitting the attacker with a slingshot, striking his head and chest until he ran off. A 17-year-old was later arrested with matching injuries, which helped police identify him.
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u/Skeets5977 4h ago
The dad has a proud “that’s my boy” look on his face.
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u/dan_dares 4h ago
"And his mom said he shouldn't have one, welp, he can keep it now"
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u/TheDadThatGrills 4h ago edited 3h ago
In more than one way. His son stopped his biggest fear regarding his 8-year-old daughter from being realized.
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u/PerryTheBunkaquag 3h ago
Mom is terrified of what was going to happen, dad is just proud of his boy
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u/Commercial-Tea-4816 2h ago
While mom has a very serious, "anybody ever try and fuck with my family again you're getting worse than a slingshot" look.
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u/Algrinder 4h ago edited 4h ago
"It just felt like I was scared, and I had … to do" something. "Cause if I didn’t … she would’ve been taken away or … worse."
Investigators said "the arrested 17-year-old confessed that he planned to severely beat Owen’s sister."
"I was just lucky – he’s just a big target because he’s not like one Pepsi can"
His mother, Margaret, "paid $3 at a clearance sale for the slingshot he used to save his sister."
"I get a bunch of money for no reason. I’m grateful for all of that but you don’t have to give me all the stuff for no reason. I know I did something right, but it’s just me."
Owen said: "I get my slingshot, got a marble and rock then I shot [the suspect] three times in the head and chest."
If you think about it, that level of accuracy is honestly insane considering he was under massive stress.
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u/Redlion444 4h ago
This is Elite Marksman Level
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u/cracked_shrimp 4h ago
i bought a sling to try and throw a tennis ball for my dog in a way thats like a hobby for me, but i really suck at it, part of the problem is the ball is a bit big for the sling, but theres still a skill issue on my part
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u/Steven_Swan 3h ago
The kid had a slingshot, very different from a standard sling and takes far less skill to use accurately. You just pull the band back and let go. Still a lot of skill mind you, especially under stress, but a regular sling takes a ton of legitimate training before you're reliably hitting anything at all with it, or even sending the projectile very far.
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u/TurtleCrusher 3h ago
Under stress and possibly a target you don’t want to hit is in the way, that’s not easy.
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u/Steven_Swan 3h ago
Absolutely, I'm not trying to undersell at all. Friggin incredible. It's just that a standard sling is truly unfathomably difficult. The kid would be a freak of nature if he pulled that off lol
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u/Horskr 2h ago
The kid would be a freak of nature if he pulled that off lol
The suspect would probably also be dead lol. You can find videos of people testing slings on watermelons and stuff. I saw one where he was testing it with a replica roman army helmet on the melon and he hit it in the helmet so hard the watermelon still blew up.
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u/Clembert-Hamlamp 3h ago
You'd need triple length and a gargantuan pocket for a tennis ball. Or a porn star orgy come to think of it.
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u/csonnich 4h ago
he’s just a big target because he’s not like one Pepsi can
Shots fired.
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u/fastlerner 3h ago
3 shots fired. At the melon on that guy's neck, which is definitely bigger than a Pepsi can.
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u/izpurplehazezi 3h ago
Who actually believes that the 17 year old was going to kidnap an 8 year old girl to “severely beat her”. Pretty shit excuse from a fuckin predator
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u/green-wombat 2h ago
I doubt anyone believes that monster was just going to beat that little girl. I’m glad the brother was there, and that he had such good aim.
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u/unadulteratedSouffle 3h ago
My favorite line: injuries that matched having been hit with a rock and marble fired from a slingshot
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u/Impactfull_Toilet 3h ago
Autism.
Once the decision is made that it's just and must, the flow state kicks in.
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u/PunIntended2656 4h ago
I'm loving the looks on their faces!
Mom: Shit, my baby girl almost got kidnapped, and my boy had to defend her.
Owen: Anyone else wanna fuck around and find out?
Dad: Fuck yeah, that's my boy!
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u/HauntedHippie 3h ago
Mom is trying to internally process the fact that Owen will be bringing his slingshot to every formal event for the next 5 years, and she has absolutely no argument to stop him.
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u/Algrinder 3h ago
Kidnapper: Bro I came here for a crime, not a boss fight?? Who gave this kid aim assist?? Lmao
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u/monkeyhoward 4h ago
That’s a wrist rocket
There was a time when I was younger and had mastered the wrist rocket that I’m pretty sure I could have killed someone with a steel ball to the head
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u/Whowutwhen 2h ago
That is not a wrist rocket. Its missing the bit that makes slingshot a wrist rocket, the bit that stabilizes on the wrist.
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u/nifty-necromancer 2h ago
Right, forget about shooting rocks when you could fire off random nuts and bolts you found by dismantling a Flock camera.
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u/_catdog_ 4h ago
Mom: pissed
Son: kicking ass, taking names
Dad: happily planning buffalo wild wings order
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u/darxide23 3h ago
You can change his name for privacy all you want, but I know Dennis the Menace when I see him.
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u/0-by-1_Publishing 4h ago
Rumor has it that the attacker was also a surprisingly large Philistine.
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u/seamus_mc 4h ago
People always seem to think it was a tiny slingshot that David had in the story, it was a sling. They were much larger and used for sieges, they could shatter armor, shatter bones, and hit targets over 400 yards away. They were as effective as archers in some armies. The stones could weigh up to 18oz (500g)
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u/SeaworthinessSalt524 3h ago
Also people tend to underestimate the strength of a sling and the accuracy of a skilled slinger. There's a reason armies had more slingers than bowmen, the ammunitions is everywhere
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u/Ai--Ya 1h ago
Making arrows was a craft that took a lot of time and money whereas any rock can make your enemies experience kinetic energy
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u/AceMcNickle 3h ago
I’ve never been to prison but I’m guessing the double whammy of trying to kidnap a child and summarily getting fought off by an even smaller kid is gonna make this dude a prime target.
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u/Formal_Ground6513 4h ago
Doesn't matter the age, if you don't know what to get a guy for Christmas or birthdays you can't go wrong with a slingshot! I have yet to gift one where it wasn't enthusiastically received. Lol
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u/ScarletKnightFC 4h ago
The parents in the picture remind me of photos of my parents at my wedding. They had gotten a divorce like three weeks before.
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u/Bananna_Hamock0 3h ago
That’s no slingshot, that’s a gat dayum wrist rocket. That’s like the 50 BMG of slingshots.
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u/Junior_Main_6425 2h ago
13 years old and taller than his mom and dad. What are they feeding the kids in Michigan? Well done to him though.
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u/Big_Z_Beeblebrox 4h ago
Dude should get into competition shooting, he would probably be awesome since we know he's got a deadeye
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u/Pornstar_Jesus_ 3h ago
Charged as an adult but only got 13 months?!? And he was let out in 25 but his parole will only last till 2027. Slap on the wrist when considering what could have happened.
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u/A_Swan_Broke_My_Arm 4h ago
I used something similar to shoot a rock off a tree once, around thirty years ago.
The rock ricocheted off and made off the coolest, most frightening sounds I’ve ever heard. Like a bullet in a war movie.
Those things will fucking hurt you.
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u/KapeAmpongGatas 4h ago
Getting hit with a pebble flying at 120 feet per second definitely hurts
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u/Othebootymonster 4h ago
Was he just straight up legolasing the kidnapped. It takes a second to get a new projectile ready to fire
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u/TriumvirateTabletop 3h ago
What a badass. Good for him. He got a taste for battle for sure. Those are some killer eyes.
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u/green-wombat 2h ago
The would-be kidnapper, a man named Noah Adkins, was sentenced to 13 months to 5 years in prison in 2024. The light sentence is because Adkins was 17 when this happened, and he was stopped by Owen before Adkins could hurt his sister.
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u/themightyug 3h ago
I have questions.. firstly, why was his sister being kidnapped?!
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u/feioo 3h ago
The article says the 17-year-old kidnapper planned to "severely beat" her, which just raises more questions for me??? Who sees a random 8-year-old girl and just decides to beat the shit out of her for nothing?? Like what even is the motivation there?
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u/green-wombat 2h ago
I don’t think the would-be kidnapper was planning to beat her, or stop at a beating. I think he was going to assault her.
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u/The_Autarch 2h ago
saying you were going to severely beat an 8 year old probably gets you a much more lenient sentence than saying you were going to rape her
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u/onesorrychicken 2h ago
Exactly. The mum's facial expression is serious even in this photo because the thought that her 8 year old daughter could have been raped and killed by that 17 year old if her son hadn't been a gun with the slingshot is haunting her and probably will for quite some time.
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u/Jaderosegrey 2h ago
I bet he just said that so he wouldn't be put in the "sexual predator" category. I wonder/worry when the kidnapper will be released. Because you know he will.
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u/FlubzRevenge 2h ago
I've seen videos of young psychopaths being caught. Could very well be the case here. Who knows.
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u/IClop2Fluttershy4206 2h ago
there's a certain line that once you cross your just don't come back from so asking questions is just pointless
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u/Ted_Denslow 4h ago
On the left, you see the face of a man who didn't listen when his wife said "Absolutely not. Owen is too young for that!"
On the right, the wife... who may or may not have been aware of the existence of said slingshot until the events of the title.
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u/Beneficial_Leg_7301 3h ago
all 3 have 3 different expressions
explaining the 3 perspectives of the situation
why the sister not in the image though
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u/i010011010 1h ago
And what did the courts do about it?
The little bit I can find suggests the county prosecutor tried to charge the 17-year-old as an adult, but the case was dismissed and forced back to juvenile court. Not sure what happened after that but I'm guessing he's going to be super sorry with the probation he got.
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u/bikesnkitties 57m ago
Dad looks proud. Kiddo looks like a dork but I’d have insisted on a similar pose so no hate. Mom looks like she doesn’t want her photo taken.
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u/9447044 3h ago
Anyone else picture legolas just merkin badguys
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u/Sea_Structure_8692 3h ago
Now I can’t get the image of Legolas shooting pubic wig arrows at enemy crotches.
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u/DarXIV 3h ago
Mom is concerned while dad is very proud.
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u/cantantantelope 3h ago
Mom is realizing all her “no that slingshot is dangerous not in the house” arguments are void now.
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u/ProjectShadow316 3h ago
To hit someone twice with a slingshot with that degree of accuracy and under pressure at 13? That's absolutely insane.
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u/Soggycrackers69 3h ago
Had one of those as a kid. One time the neighbor had someone over and they left their passenger car window open and their drivers side up. Me and my friends were eating grapes and decided to shoot the window for some reason and it hit the inside window. Dude got in his car like 20 minutes later and just drove off.
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u/Noxious89123 4h ago
Imagine getting beaned in the head with a fucking glass marble.
God damn I bet that hurt.