Disturbing robbery footage from a gas station in Hartford town shows a 12-year-old threatening the store with a gun in his hand and collecting the money before walking out calmly and acting as if nothing happened. According to the police, a few days before the robbery, the boy had told one of the students at his school about his plans for armed robbery.
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A 12-year-old boy was caught on surveillance video holding up a Michigan gas station with a gun in his hand as he demanded money from the cashier.
The disturbing footage of the robbery shows a skinny kid waiting calmly in line in the town of Hartford with his backpack as he waits for the customer in front of him to pay for gas.
However, as this skinny kid reaches the front of the line, he whips out a 9mm handgun from his black bag and demands money.
'Put the money in the bag!' the boys states calmly. The cashier appears incredulous at the request initially and asks him, 'Are you serious?'
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To make sure that everyone takes him seriosuly, the 12-year old fires a round into the ceiling.
The woman behind the counter flinches but then pulls out a bag of money from the safe and quickly hands it over to the kid, ordering him to 'Get out!'
As the boy leaves he attempts to reload his gun but it jams. One of the shell casings can be seen falling to the floor.
After getting the money, the child then walks out of the store calmly as if nothing happened.
Just before 4pm on Wednesday, 911 dispatchers received the call about the armed robbery at the Marathon gas station on East Main Street - just one block from the police station.
The boy was promptly picked up by cops minutes later.
Hartford Police Chief Tressa Beltran picked him up without incident and charged with armed robbery, assault with a dangerous weapon, and discharge of a firearm in Van Buren County Family Court on Thursday.
According to the police, the 12-year-old shared his plans of robbery with another student at school befote stealing the weapon from his grandfather's locked safe.
The grandfather, who is the child's legal guardian, told police he did not know that his grandson could access the safe.
A sign on his front door read: 'No comment at this time, no pics. I have to live in this town and I need some sleep.'
According to the officials, the boy, who attends Hartford Middle School is currently in custody at the Allegan County Juvenile Center and will remain there until a hearing later this month.
'I thought he was a kid, not even 10 years old,' the store clerk, called Jessica, told News Channel 3.
'He sounded way too calm. I seriously thought it was a prank until I heard the gun go off.
'Part of me wanted to hold the kid because he has so many problems, then it's hard to feel bad when he did something like this,' Jessica said.
'I always thought if I were robbed I'm giving them the money, no amount of money is worth my life.'
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Police shares that the boy's motive behind the robbery is not yet known.
'Every day I'm seeing something new at this job. I've been a full-time police officer for 38 years. What really flabbergasted me is that he showed no emotion,' Hartford Lt. Mike Prince said.
'He told us he didn't do it for the money. He said he would've thrown the money into the sewer. He wouldn't give us an explanation why he did it.'
