Police: Boys, 11 and 7, try to rob Portland woman at gunpoint
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PORTLAND, Ore. – Police said two boys, ages 11 and 7, tried to rob and carjack a woman at gunpoint in Southeast Portland Saturday afternoon.
"I didn't think it was real," said Amy Garrett. "They were just two really young kids."
The 11-year-old boy had a loaded handgun, police said.
Earlier Saturday, someone called police to report that an 11-year-old boy spotted another 11-year-old boy with a loaded handgun near Southeast 160th and Alder Street just after 12 p.m., according to Sgt. Pete Simpson.
When police arrived, they spotted two boys who tried to run away when officers talked to them.
Officers stopped them near the Freedom Foursquare Church. They told the 11-year-old boy to keep his hands out of his pockets, but he refused, Simpson said. An officer grabbed his arms and found a cocked and loaded handgun in his pocket.
Police were later flagged down by Garrett, 22, who told them the two boys tried to rob her and steal her truck.
Garrett said she was sitting in her truck and waiting for her parents outside the church when the boys approached her and threatened to shoot her if she didn't give them her truck.
"He was showing me his gun and I asked him if it was real," said Garrett. "He said 'you don't ever ask somebody if it's real. That's how you get yourself shot.'"
Garrett said the 7-year-old told the 11-year-old to “show her your piece.” The 11-year-old then lifted his shirt and showed Garrett the gun.
"He said it was fully-loaded and cocked and ready to go. He told me he was going to blow my brains out if I didn't give him anything."
When Garrett refused to give the boys her truck, they demanded her wallet and phone and said they would shoot her if she didn’t give them anything.
"My heart was beating a million miles a minute. I'm surprised it didn't completely beat our of my chest. I was very scared," Garrett said.
Garrett drove away and called 9-1-1. As she pulled away, Garrett said she saw the 11-year-old pull the gun from his pocket.
The 11-year-old lives nearby with his family, Garrett said. He returned to the scene while KATU was interviewing Garrett, but left and did not come back when we asked to speak with his parents.
Garrett, and neighbors who spoke to KATU News said the neighborhood has seen plenty of crime in the past.
"People don't want to come because of all the criminal activity," said Robert Schultz, who attends the church. "It's really disturbing to have these kind of things go on on holy ground."
Simpson said due the boys’ ages, they cannot be taken to the Donald E. Long Juvenile Detention Home. They were both left with their parents.
The boys would be taken to the juvenile detention center and face Measure 11 crimes if they were 15, Simpson said.
It’s unclear where the 11-year-old boy got the handgun. Robbery detectives are investigating the case.
"Eventually, I want them to be able to come to the church and have some faith," said Garrett. "I want them to have a brighter future because they're not going anywhere bright right now. They're just going down a really bad path."
This is sad, hearing about these kids threatening to kill someone they probably don't even know!
 @oh4FS Are you ssure that is them???? Because I know these people and they haven't ha a computer or laptop!! It could be the grandparents!!!! An yes, I know their entire famil the try to be friendly and such, but the kids are out of control a lot. I used to play with all 3 of their kids, and most the time they were pleasant. The 11year old was just lonely and bullied a lot!!!
I found a website that shows physical punishment laws for each and every state, and this is Oregon's: Physical force is justified if parent/guardian/other person with the care and supervision of a minor uses reasonable force when and to the extent the person reasonably believes necessary to maintain discipline or promote welfare of minor. § 161.205. [Criminal Code]
This is the reason why there is so much crime commited by minors there, because they know they will get away with it!!! Send them to Juvies and let them learn till they are 18 before they get used to killing people and being serial killers!
Wow! I think what troubles me as much as anything in this terrible story, is that the very next day this 11 year old boy is yet again, roaming the streets unsupervised!!! Are you kidding me? What the hell is wrong with these parents, because my first thought would be "A LOT!!!!!". I couldn't imagine my child doing something like this, but I guarantee if he did, he wouldn't be seeing the light of day for a very long, long time. I realize that CPS in this state is completely worthless, but action needs to be taken immediately. We don't need to wait until he takes the fricking gun to school!!!! Come on Portland Police, do your fricking job! If the kid shot a Spotted Owl, or texted a picture of his privates to an 11 year old girl,  he and or his parents would be paying for it!
@mylifescrazy I could not agree more. My daughter lives a block away and can't get answers from the school or her daughters teacher to see if the 7 year old is in my 1st grade Granddaughter's class. They just say "it hasn't been reported what school they attend". CRAZY
Enough!
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No court, no counselors, just tan their hides... but good! And let them go on their way.
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I am extremely conflicted here. These are children that obviously need some discipline and consequences for their actions. However, the possibility of DHS removing them from their home is sickening. There is no checks and balances with DHS and they can do whatever they want without consequences for their accusatory behavior.  The threat alone to a family can be devastating as well as counter productive in regards to getting these children the help they need in redirecting their behavior. The financial burden this will create for the families involved will never end! I completely understand that there are issues with the families and these children that need to be addressed. I would have been terrified had I been the women the boys approached.   However, they are children. 7 and 11 years of age!!! How about some legal consequences for the boys and mandatory counseling and retribution. Parenting classes for Mom & Dad, with the tools to be successful instead of setting the families and these two boys up to fail before they even get started!!!!  Since this is such a delicate subject and the accused are minors, the continued airing of this story could be a detriment to whatever investigation there will be. The facts will get twisted with opinion and things will become convoluted and cloudy! These kids will become "targets" for all negativity to come. They won't have a chance!  Â
They were lucky they didnt run into a Concealed Carry owner in that truck. Might have been a interesting situation...
I think it was wrong for Thom Jensen to broadcast the past criminal record of the father of the 11-yr old boy. It's the boy that is under investigation, and, yes, the parents should be questioned, but if the dad served his time for his crime then let him be. Shame on you KATU and Thom Jensen.
@Suzette It is relevant as the apple did not fall far from the tree. Also that convicted felon Dad has a gun.
 @oh4FS Interesting! Nowhere else have I seen info on the parents, although that IS what everyone is wondering... it is quite obvious that a 7 and 11 year old doing something criminal, like this, HAS to have had some influence, somewhere along the way, whether it being unmonitored viewing of television programs they are FAR TOO YOUNG to watch, let alone understand, or that a family member is engaged in criminal behavior or lifestyle... exposure to either of these SHOULD constitute child abuse, in my opinion. It's NOT the way to raise young children, as their minds are like a sponge and they soak up everything and for all the wrong reasons. That 'Dad' is a prior 'convicted felon' tells me he has done little to raise these boys in a proper and 'right-thinking' frame of mind - in fact, he may be the very 'bad influence' to have nurtured this 'seed' of criminality among the young boys, if he is vocal around them about his disdain and lack of respect for the law and authority... In this case, and I'm no lawyer, but a concerned citizen, couldn't - SHOULDN'T - the FATHER be arrested and charged with 'contributing to the delinquency of' said children?? At the very least, at the first whiff of 'Dad' being someone with prior convictions, shouldn't CPS have made the decision to REMOVE THE BOYS from that home until they had investigated further? Dad should NOT be allowed to even OWN a gun, am I right? That these boys had possession, as MINORS, of a gun... doesn't that automatically make the parent(s) LIABLE - and, if so, why was NOTHING DONE but to 'send the boys home to their parents'???
 @S Ryan  @oh4FS The first thought I had when I read this, was that this kid got a gun from SOMEONE, and I'd have bet on a parent. Whether the gun owner is a felon or not, it points out my own opinion that it isn't the guns that matter ... it's whether the owner is responsible enough to keep them out of the hands of children. I still think it's gun owners that should take the problem into their hands and figure out how to watch over the m*r*ns among them. But children raised in healthy homes don't do things like this, so regardless of how little I approve of DHS, the 7 year old should not be raised in this family. It's probably already too late for the 11 year old.
What if he had shot her? Â Then would he have been taken in, or is he still too young? Â I'm sorry, but an 11-year-old capable of threatening to blow a woman's brains out needs help or discipline. Â Preferably both, and it sounds like he gets neither with the parents he was left with.
These children are obviously acting out aggressive and depraved actions. If they are not old enough for juvenile detention I think it would be best for the public safety as well as their own if they had immediately been hospitalized for evaluation and diagnosis. They NEVER should have been allowed back in their parent's custody at this point until more is known as to what exactly is going on with them.
I have heard that there are laws about responsibility as parents. Why aren't parents actually held accountable in our area?  A "child" was bullying others and with no help from parents, a policeman issued the parents a ticket for "Failure To Supervise",  when it went before a judge, he fined them $100, and the future citations brought immediate fines. If the police know that kid's identity, they need to do their job.
@GGSX I have yet to see anyone answer this question. How are you going to enforce the rules to your children and ensure that they dont do wrong? How are you going to do that, without breaking laws yourself?
Far too many loopholes in this story. These children had a loaded gun, why was it not located and confiscated by police? Childrens Protective Services (I assume they still exist) should have been advised and an investigation into the removal of the children from their homes begun. Portland Police had contact with the suspected victim, but she was only threatened, not shot, so they wouldn't pursue children with a loaded gun...why waste taxpayer dollars??? Right? Too young to be punished by law enforcement...if so, then punish the parents. Otherwise, no one learns the lesson and no one takes a moment to teach it. That made a sharp left at 'pathetic' and became 'criminal'...
@D. Huffman From the Article:  Â
"When police arrived, they spotted two boys who tried to run away when officers talked to them.
Officers stopped them near the Freedom Foursquare Church. They told the 11-year-old boy to keep his hands out of his pockets, but he refused, Simpson said. An officer grabbed his arms and found a cocked and loaded handgun in his pocket."
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I'm sure the police kept the gun. Â The article continued: Â
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"Itâs unclear where the 11-year-old boy got the handgun. Robbery detectives are investigating the case."
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@D. Huffman You can blame the parents for negligence but dont try to blame them for the actions of the children after the fact. We have no rights to enforce rules and laws upon our own children.
You are well named!Â
It isn't about a "right to enforce laws" it is about responsibility to teach and supervise your children.
Man I wish that kid would have whipped out his gun to show the reporter. He would have to change his underwear. KATUseless couldn't show the little punk's face? Kids released to their worthless parents, are you kidding? Another reason to have your conceal carry permit. I carry a gun because I can't carry a cop.
Kids these days.
read the story better people...it was a different 11yr old who reported the kids carrying around the gun.
Check out the first 4-5 sentences.
The kid with the gun did not come back.
 @SKVmutant Yes the kid did! the little booger with the gun did come back, during the interview with Amy, she looked to her side and said, "That's him, that's the kid who threatened me."
 @SKVmutant The paragraph YOU are referring to is the one where, during the 9-11 call by Ms. Garett, police arrived quickly BECAUSE they had already received calls (one by an 11 year old who saw the OTHER 11 year old and 7 year old - "kids with GUNS in the parking lot").
  The main topic HERE is about the LATER INTERVIEW, the next day, where Ms Garrett was being questioned AGAIN, and by KATU, about the day before's incident. During the interview, THE 11 year old in question (NOT the 11 year old of no name or significance who alerted police) WALKED RIGHT UP to the reporrter and Ms. Garrett and BECAME A PART OF THE FILMED INTERVIEW, only with his face blurred out (because he is/was underage)...
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I cannot stand it when people make comments WITHOUT READING THE ARTICLE/WATCHING THE VIDEO concerned FIRST... And then there are always those who might need to read/watch TWICE in order too better understand 'what is happening'/being discussed...
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And YOU preface YOUR post with an admonition that WE need to "read the story better people."????
 @SKVmutant ~  "The 11-year-old lives nearby with his family, Garrett said. He returned to the scene while KATU was interviewing Garrett, but left and did not come back when we asked to speak with his parents."  (from the story)
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That sentence looks pretty clear to me... the kid who had the gun was the one who returned later, when Ms Garrett was being interviewed by KATU...Â
@SKVmutant If you watched the news, you would know that the boy who came back WAS the one with the gun. They were interviewing Amy when she glanced aside and said, "Thats him, thats the kids that was threatening me"
Another couple of worthless DNA receptacles(and their parents too!)
Oh....my....God! The 11 year old was out ...AGAIN .... alone!!!  Out and walking around, unpunished and clearly unrestricted following what had transpired just the day prior! UNREAL!!! Where are his parents for God's sake???
@pdxmom His parents are at home, posting opinions on news website comment boards, boasting about what great parents they are, how they always watch their kids and how they always carry concealed to protect themselves. These are the things they are doing rather than paying attention to what their children are doing.
Come on Oregon - you return these criminal THUG kids to their neglectful parents? Parents that obviously left a loaded gun in their possession in the first place?
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Let's just wait until both of these thug kids - kill an innocent person. Isn't it bad enough they tried to do just that - yesterday? And the gall of that kid - coming right back up to his victim while KATU was videotaping her - to further traumatize and victimize her - a second time over on the record. And the State of Oregon facilitating all of that?Â
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If Oregon didn't "THINK" before yesterday that kids as young as these two would criminally choose to intentionally act like this - it is time for our state to wake up and do a better job. KIDS KILL. KIDS COMMIT CRIMES. KIDS TERRORIZE THEIR COMMUNITIES, TOO. KIDS WALK AROUND WITH LOADED GUNS READY TO DO ANYTHING WRONGFUL AND HARMFUL WITH THEM.Â
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DEAL WITH IT, Oregon!
@englishdaisy What can we do? Dont go high and mighty on us unless you have a plan to solve it that doesnt force us as parents to break laws ourselves.
 @cantcurestupid  @englishdaisy High and mighty? I am talking about SAVING THESE TWO TRAIN WRECKcriminal acting children from their own lives of current criminal intent.Â
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High and mighty of me? No way. I want to save them from their predictable future. And save this crime victim of theirs from being further traumatized.Â
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How about simply taking these children out of a known NEGLIGENT HOME ENVIRONMENT and relocating them to any secure ward far away from Portland. Far away from the Metro area even. If we don't have a facility right this instant that is "perfect' than child service PROFESSIONALS need to act outside of the box and provide a secondarily optimal safe and secure locked facility to house them in. And then assess the situation. Far, far, far away from S.E. Portland and all of its current criminal influences - including these boy's own families. Â
The only thing we can hope for is that the country starts to realize that they have done wrong in not allowing us to disicplin are children the way those of us older generation were brought up. Until the powers that be realize that a good beating is not going to forever damage children this problem will only contiune to get worse.
 @cantcurestupid I agree all the way
Great job by the police! Â The arrests could have gone so much worse.
 @Beti Great job? These armed and dangerous thugs are already back on the street - approaching their victims WHILE KATU was filiming - flagrantly traumatizing and intimidating her all over again.Â
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And the police only care about securing a high profile interview on camera and then off they go. Leaving these two train wreck kids in that same neighborhood. And this crime victim feeling like no one gives a DANG about her rights. Or her being protected. Or a danged thing.Â
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Good job by the police doing nothing to keep these CRIMINALLY INTENDING KIDS from re-offending later today? Come on...
If they were my kids I would beat them within an inch of their lives.
 @None Really? If they were my kids, I'd have beaten the gun owner who had left a gun where my kid could get it and then would have beaten whoever it was that taught them to bully. And THEN, I would have kept the kids locked up until they proved to me they were responsible enough to be out of my sight. A thrashing might have been included.
@None All the good that would do is get you in jail for child abuse. These little punks seem like the type that would go to child services on you. You go to jail for abuse, they go to a foster home and then run around again
Combine their ages and try him as an adult.
Too bad the kid didn't manage to kill himself and save everyone a lot of grief down the road.
Obama´s America.
 @Don Skool ~  No, Don...this started long before Obama came on the scene...  Things in this country began changing after WW-II - and after the 1950s, which was a relatively prosperous, peaceful time (except for our involvement in Korea).   Then came the '60s...and the so-called "child experts", who proclaimed that spanking your kids ~ or doing anything more extreme than "reasoning" with them ~ would traumatize them for life.   Making them accountable for what they did would also destroy their fragile little psyches... and heaven forbid they should have to work and EARN what they wanted. Â
Of course, when THOSE kids grew up (if you can call it that), they passed along these fine traditions to THEIR kids... and eventually, we ended up with what we have now. Â
Added to this mix, we have the schools, who decided that everybody had to "be successful" in school; so they passed kids from one grade to the next, whether or not the kids were able to handle the work... so now, we have HS (even some college) grads who can't read, can't write a coherent sentence, and can't do basic math without a calculator. Â Â
And finally, we have our out-of-control "health-care system", and Big Pharma... the latter, having been allowed some years ago to start pitching their products on TV, has turned a significant portion of our population into hypochondriacs. Â Â
This short list doesn't cover it all by any means, but this is some of what has gone wrong... It goes much deeper than presidents or political parties...Â
 @margay1 Well said
 @Don Skool Wow. A new low in least helpful comments. What a d-bag.
@Don Skool....no, it's OUR America....YOURS and MINE....you don't like it? Do something about it.
 @Solipsist01 Actually, it is Obama's America, and we are getting less and less freedoms, thanks to the New World Order, and Obama has the same mindset as Hitler, even though he is African American, which is why the New World Order put him in, so nobody can say that about him, and here is something you will never hear on the news: Obama called vets "enemies of the state''.
@Solipsist01 What the hell are we supposed to do about it? We cant do anything as parents to stop this from happening anymore. The United States has taken away our rights as parents to do anything to stop our children from chosing to do bad. All we're allowed to do is talk to them. Do you realize that you are in violation of a law if you lock your child inside the house? You cant physical stop them from leaving. You can say you're not allowed to leave, but as these little punks have clearly shown, words dont stop people for doing as they chose.
 @cantcurestupid Exactly what law or statute says you can't lock your kids in the house or prevent them from leaving?  I asked a police officer and father who says this is not the case.  Please give us a reference. Â
@cantcurestupid ...first step would be to drop that BS self pity. If you really believe that you are helpless then I guess you are,