14-Year-Old Becomes A Hero, Saves Mom By Shooting Attacker In The Face

I know that this young man must be traumatized by what took place at the Spring Garden pizza shop Thursday, but I hope he finds comfort in the fact that his quick thinking saved his mom's life.

Three men entered the pizza place in an attempted robbery but the robbery turned violent when one of the suspects began to strangle the boy's mother because she was unable to open the safe.

Authorities said the robbery suspect came into Bold Pizza on the 1500 block of Spring Garden Street a little before 9:47 p.m. and tried to reach over the counter and take money out of the register. That prompted a physical struggle between the robbery suspect and an employee, police said, and the suspect “started to strangle” the employee — the teen’s mother.

Police say the boy's father kept a licensed and registered handgun behind the counter. Thankfully, the teen knew where it was and was able to shoot his mother's attacker in the face.

Authorities did not say whether either the robbery suspect or the teen would face charges. But they said the suspect may be connected to another attempted robbery that happened just minutes earlier Thursday night.

Around 9:43 p.m., police said, three men walked into a CVS half a block from Bold Pizza, at 490 N. Broad Street, and demanded cash from the register. The cashier said she couldn’t open the registers without a code, police said, at which point one of the three men threatened to shoot her.

At that point, all three men fled the scene. Police were later able to follow a trail of blood from the restaurant to a nearby subway station. It was there that they found the wounded suspect, who was bleeding profusely.

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A large amount of cash was found in his pockets, but police found no weapon. It is unclear whether the suspect was armed during the attempted robbery or if he had only pretended to have a gun. He was taken to a hospital for treatment and was last reported to be in critical condition, according to Newsweek.