A 12-year-old boy who stole a car was killed in a shootout with the car’s owner, police say.
Elias Armstrong was up past his bedtime when he allegedly hot-wired a car in the Central Park neighborhood of Denver early Sunday.
The vehicle’s owner told police he used an app to track his car and eventually saw it stopped at an intersection in the Sun Valley neighborhood, about 15 minutes away.
According to police, the owner approached his stolen vehicle and exchanged gunfire with the car’s occupants. Armstrong drove the car a few blocks away and stopped after the shootout, police say.
Police found the wounded boy in the driver’s seat of the car. He was suffering from gunshot wounds. Armstrong was transported to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Police believe other juveniles who were in the car fled on foot.
The fatal incident raised larger questions regarding juveniles roaming the streets at night and committing felonies.
Activists drew parallels between Armstrong and 13-year-old Karon Blake who was killed by a homeowner while breaking into cars in Washington DC last month.
Blake was fatally shot around 3:56 a.m. on Jan. 7 by the homeowner who heard someone breaking into cars.
Karon Blake, a missing child at 11, was a student at Brookland Middle – “…a Brookland student tragically lost their life to gun violence in the early morning of January 7. Let us join in sending love and support to their family as they grieve this devastating loss.” @wusa9 pic.twitter.com/ExTvR5tEjJ
— Delia Gonçalves (@deliangoncalves) January 9, 2023
In both incidents, the boys were Black and liberal media outlets portrayed them as innocent victims.
Police say juveniles are often used by adult gang members to steal cars to be used in drive-by shootings.
