A pair of Boston children trying to make a little summer money were left terrified after their lemonade stand was robbed at gunpoint in broad daylight.
The victims, an 11-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy, were running their stand in South Boston around 4:45 p.m. Wednesday when two juvenile suspects walked past them several times, according to the Boston Police Department.
At one point, the suspects reportedly stopped and asked the children whether they accepted Apple Pay.
Before the kids could answer, police said one of the suspects grabbed their cash box. The other allegedly lifted his shirt and showed a black firearm tucked into his waistband.
The suspects then ran off with the cash box, which had about $50 inside.
The stunned children called their father, who immediately contacted 911.
Police have not announced any arrests, but investigators released photos and a short video of the suspects seen pacing around the area before the robbery.
The children’s mother, Jennifer Byrne, told NBC Boston that she was at work when her daughter called her in hysterics.
“Somebody put a gun to us and took all of our money,” Byrne recalled her daughter saying.
The little girl’s reaction in the moment was heartbreaking.
“My daughter said when they said ‘We’re taking it all,’ she put her arms up in the air and said, ‘Just take it. Just take it,’” Byrne said.
According to Byrne, a neighbor spotted one of the suspects with the children’s pink cash box shortly after the robbery and yelled at them to stop. The suspects allegedly dropped the box, grabbed the $50 inside and ran off again.
Byrne told WCVB that her son described one suspect as a Black male who was smaller than him and appeared to be around 10 or 11 years old. The second suspect was described as a Black male in his early teens wearing a black Nike balaclava-style face mask, black shirt, shorts and high white socks.
The robbery has shaken the family and outraged neighbors.
“There’s two innocent little kids just trying to make some slush money, and they have to fear for their life,” Byrne told WCVB. “It’s horrific. It’s horrific. I have no other words.”
Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn also reacted to the incident, saying the armed robbery shows the need for more police officers and stronger community policing.
“The thoughts of our entire community are with the young children and the families who had to endure this terrible and senseless ordeal,” Flynn wrote on Facebook.
“There is simply no one that envisions a place where a children’s lemonade stand is robbed at gunpoint as the safest city in America.”
Despite the terrifying ordeal, the children are not facing it alone. Neighbors are reportedly planning to show up Friday evening to support a new lemonade stand and help the kids recover what was stolen.
What started as a simple summer stand has now turned into a rallying point for a shocked community determined to stand behind two young victims.
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In response to the lemonade stand robbery…….where are BOTH parents of these future monsters? Not only should they be punished but as part of it made to WORK & pay back what the stole, I have a feeling this isn’t the first they’ve done!!
Such young men to begin (maybe) a life of progressive crime. It is a life lesson calamity for the lemonade kids as they’ll never forget and may have the beginnings of PTSD.