Man Who Opened Fire at 12-Year-Old Through Shattered Window Will Not Face Charges

BUFFALO, NY — A Buffalo man has finally heard whether or not he would be facing charges in regards to shooting a 12-year-old attempting to break into his home.

He will not be charged — even though he opened fire nearly blind without his glasses, according to The Buffalo News.

As The Buffalo News reports:

An Erie County grand jury voted not to indict Edward M. Bald, 61, a decision revealed in court Friday morning before Erie County Court Judge Sheila A. DiTullio. Investigators determined the 12-year-old and a 15-year-old boy planned to break into his Quincy Street house thinking no one was home, Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn Jr. said.

“The boy was too sick to go to school, but well enough to join in on a home invasion,” Bald said Thursday. “It wasn’t random; it was planned.”

Bald said police discovered a black mask on the ground outside the window shortly after the incident.

Bald, who was asleep when a rock was thrown through his bedroom window, told authorities he thought he was about to be robbed. So he grabbed his shotgun and fired through a hole in the glass… The 15-year-old carried the 12-year-old out of the backyard and down the street a few houses, before putting him on the ground and running home, where the 15-year-old’s mother called 911. Bald called 911, too, along with some neighbors who called when the saw the boy on the street, bleeding…

The boy, now 13, lost his right eye, had shotgun pellets in his brain, a collapsed lung, a blood clot, brain swelling and damage to his esophagus, a family member told The Buffalo News a few days after the shooting. He remained in the hospital until Dec. 5.

Twelve is awful young to begin committing major crimes like this, but even so — the law applies to them, too. Hopefully, the kid will learn from his mistake.

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