A 9-year-old North Carolina was the victim of an alleged armed robbery while he was selling homemade lemonade in his neighborhood in Monroe North Carolina Boy Running a Lemonade Stand Allegedly Robbed at Gunpoint for the $17 He Made A 9-year-old North Carolina was the victim of an alleged armed robbery while he was selling homemade lemonade in his neighborhood in Monroe. The boy, Mark David, was allegedly robbed of $17 by a teenager but escaped with his life on Saturday, he told WSOC. Get push notifications with news, features and more. “I opened the box, he grabbed it, pushed the gun at me and ran away,” David said. While the suspect has not been found, David told Union County Sheriff’s Deputies the teenager wore a camouflage hat, had a black BB gun and stole a metal tin full of money, the outlet reported. His father, Philip Smith, told Fox 46 there had “never had an incident like this, never thought this would happen.” Tony Underwood, a spokesperson for the Union County Sheriff’s Office, told said, “I think people are capable of a lot of things, but not robbing a child at a lemonade stand, that takes it to a new level.” Deputies are currently searching for the teenager, telling CNN, “[The boy] was able to give a lot of detailed information. Unfortunately, not enough at this point to, you know, conclusively identify the suspect.” As for how the little boy was doing, Underwood said, “I’m sure just as anyone would be going through that type of situation, they’re going to be traumatized.” Despite the incident, it didn’t stop David from returning to his lemonade stand the next day. “We are being resilient and he came out here to sell some lemonade today just to be back at it and taking out time to process everything that happened,” Smith told Fox 46. • Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter. He continued, “We kinda explained it to him that bad things do happen to good people and you never know when it’s going to happen to you. You just gotta pray and be glad that he is safe.” David was saving up his lemonade stand money to buy a lawnmower. A local Lowe’s donated a lawnmower to him after they heard his story.<doc-sep>"Never thought in a million years I'd be racing off to pick him up with somebody pointing a gun at him and taking his money from just a simple thing of selling lemonade," said Philip Smith, the boy's father.<doc-sep>A 9-year-old boy running a lemonade stand outside of Charlotte, N.C., on Saturday was robbed at gunpoint, police say. Union County Sheriff’s Office deputies are seeking a teenager who allegedly pointed a black handgun at the boy’s stomach and took his cashbox before fleeing on a bicycle, according to WSOC-TV. The boy had less than $20 in cash on him, Union County spokesman Tony Underwood told WSOC. “In today’s world, people are very bold,” he said. “Criminals are very bold. This is a new low.” Deputies said the boy described the suspect, who is still at large, as a male teen wearing a camouflage hat and a black shirt. “They found the camo hat we believe was worn by the suspect,” Underwood said. “We also found a black-colored handgun we believe was the handgun that was used, turns out it was a BB gun.” The boy reopened his lemonade stand in a new location at the community pool on Sunday, neighbors said. Get The Brief. Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now. Please enter a valid email address. * The request timed out and you did not successfully sign up. Please attempt to sign up again. Sign Up Now An unexpected error has occurred with your sign up. Please try again later. Check the box if you do not wish to receive promotional offers via email from TIME. You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Thank you! For your security, we've sent a confirmation email to the address you entered. Click the link to confirm your subscription and begin receiving our newsletters. If you don't get the confirmation within 10 minutes, please check your spam folder. Write to Megan McCluskey at megan.mccluskey@time.com.<doc-sep>
A boy selling lemonade in a North Carolina neighborhood was allegedly robbed Saturday when a teen pressed a black handgun to his stomach and demanded money. Deputies later found a black BB handgun on a trail in nearby woods of Monroe, North Carolina, the Union County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement Sunday. Also found: A metal tin stolen from the boy, plus a camouflage hat matching the one reportedly worn by the teen who fled on foot. The robber made off with $17, according to local station Fox 46. "I think people are capable of a lot of things, but not robbing a child at a lemonade stand, that takes it to a new level," Tony Underwood, a spokesman for the sheriff's office, told the station. The boy's father, Phillip Smith, has shielded his son from media attention, but said the young entrepreneur worked the lemonade stand to raise funds to buy a lawn mower for his other part-time business. “Never thought in a million years I’d be racing off to pick him up with somebody pointing a gun at him and taking his money from just a simple thing of selling lemonade," Smith told WCNC-TV. The lemonade stand was set up at a roundabout in St. John's Forrest, a quiet neighborhood on the city's northwest side. Undeterred, the boy returned Sunday to sell lemonade — this time with added support from family as a precaution. Neighbors rallied to raise $256 for the boy, WCNC-TV reported. County investigators were still searching for the suspect as of Monday morning, according to the Charlotte Observer. More:Man steals shark from aquarium in baby stroller More:Airlines cut flights to Mexican resorts after tourist blackouts