A courageous eight-year-old girl played a crucial role in thwarting a robbery at her father’s liquor store in Maplewood, Minnesota, USA, on Saturday night, August 10. Surveillance video shows her bravely defending the store by repeatedly striking the intruder with a baseball bat.
The incident unfolded around 9:30 p.m. when the suspect, Conchobhar Morrell, 37, entered Big Discount Liquors armed with what appeared to be a handgun. He demanded that the store’s clerk, identified only as Leo, hand over all the money in the register.
Leo complied and was in the process of retrieving the cash when Morrell, dressed in an Amazon uniform, attempted to rush behind the counter where the young girl was standing. Surveillance footage reveals that Leo quickly reacted by punching Morrell and wrestling him to the ground. As this unfolded, the brave girl armed herself with a baseball bat and began striking the suspect, assisting her father in subduing him.
Leo later expressed his shock and pride upon reviewing the surveillance video. “I wasn’t even aware she had stepped in until I saw the footage. I’m so proud of her, she’s so strong,” he told CBS News. “I just wanted to cry. I didn’t expect she’d do that. I expected a little girl crying, screaming.”
Morrell fled the store but was apprehended shortly afterward by police. He faces charges of first-degree attempted aggravated robbery. Authorities later revealed that the firearm Morrell brandished was actually a BB gun. An Amazon spokesperson confirmed that Morrell, who had been working as a delivery associate for a third-party service, would be “immediately offboarded” following his arrest.
Morrell is currently in custody and is scheduled for an initial court hearing on Friday, August 16.
Watch the video below to see the brave actions of the young girl:
