A 12-year-old lost his cash box to an armed suspect in South Boston. What happened next?
On a Wednesday afternoon in South Boston, 12-year-old David Byrne and his 11-year-old sister Juliette were running a lemonade stand on West Ninth Street when two masked individuals approached them. The pair walked past the stand several times before stopping to ask whether the children accepted Apple Pay. Before the siblings could answer, one of the suspects grabbed the cash box with one hand and displayed a gun tucked in his waistband.
David told the children to hand it over. Juliette put her hands up. The suspects took the box, which contained roughly $50, and ran.
Boston Police Department officers arrived at the scene at approximately 4:44 p.m. ET following a report of an armed robbery. Surveillance footage released the following day showed two suspects sprinting along city streets and sidewalks.
What David said afterward
David’s account of the robbery, shared with CBS News Boston, was measured in a way that stood out. He described the suspect’s words before the gun appeared, explained that he told his sister to hand over the box, and then said that afterward he was a little annoyed because they were 12 and 11 and that kind of thing should not happen to people that age.
His father, Dave Byrne, described his reaction as disgust. The robbery happened in broad daylight, in a neighborhood where the family felt comfortable enough to let two children run a stand on the sidewalk without concern.
The cash box was later found empty nearby.
An arrest and an ongoing search
Boston Police announced on Friday that a 14-year-old had been taken into custody in connection with the robbery. The suspect was not identified publicly because he is a minor. He is expected to be arraigned in Boston Juvenile Court on charges including two counts of armed robbery and two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm.
A second suspect, believed to be approximately 11 years old, remains at large. Police have asked anyone with information to contact detectives at 617-343-4742 or submit an anonymous tip through the department’s CrimeStoppers program.
South Boston comes out for the Byrne kids
The lemonade stand reopened the day after the robbery, and the response from the neighborhood was significant. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu stopped by to show support for David and Juliette. A large crowd gathered, including neighbors, family friends, and elected officials.
Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn announced that a portion of the proceeds from the reopened stand would be donated to a local organization focused on gun violence prevention. The decision came from the Byrne family and those around them, turning a robbery into a moment of community purpose.
Juliette told reporters she had not expected that many people to show up and said it made her happy. Neighbors described South Boston as a place where that kind of response was not surprising.
A family friend expressed anger at what happened but emphasized that the neighborhood’s reaction was the more important story. Another neighbor said that one incident was not going to change how the community let its children play in the street or spend time with friends nearby.
David, for his part, connected the stand’s new fundraising purpose to something larger. He said the robbery showed why awareness about gun violence mattered and that it was not something anyone should be doing, at any age.