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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Ryan Fahey

Hero brother uses a slingshot to save his sister, 8, from being abducted in back garden

A girl was able to escape an attempted kidnapping when her brother used a slingshot to strike the would-be attacker, authorities said this week.

Michigan State Police arrested the accused assailant in the city of Alpena on Wednesday.

The 17-year-old's name has not been released though he has been charged as an adult with 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.

Michigan State Police said in a news release that the 8-year-old girl was in her backyard when the alleged assailant came out of the woods, grabbed her and covered her mouth.

Authorities said the girl's brother, 13, hit the alleged attacker in the head and chest using a slingshot.

Alpena County Jail, where the suspect has been held (Google Maps)

Police later arrested the 17-year-old based on another family member's description of the suspect. Authorities also said the teenager had visible wounds from the slingshot, Mlive.com reports.

In the UK in April, a mum got caught up in a desperate tug-of-war to stop a woman who was trying to snatch her baby.

The woman screamed "he's not yours!" as the nightmare unravelled in broad daylight in front of a toy shop in Reading, Berkshire.

Police warned other parents to be vigilant as the hunt for the would-be kidnapper intensified.

The mum, who hasn't been named, recalled how the attempted child snatch happened after she left The Entertainer on Tuesday.

Posting on the community Facebook group Reading Gossip Girls, the mother said: "Out with my two-year-old son and two friends with their children when I was approached by a woman who threatened me and tried to take my child.

"She screamed at me to stay away from my own child, threw down her bag and tried to grab him off of the floor.

"I quickly pulled him away and asked her not to touch my child and to leave us alone which she replied 'get off him he's not your son'."

The mother said she won the desperate tug-of-war to stop the stranger taking away her boy, as other shoppers stared in amazement at the tussle.

She contacted the police who advised her to go to the nearest shop, Primark, and to wait inside.

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