“He Showed Us the Gun”: 2 Kids Describe Being Robbed at Gunpoint While Running a Lemonade Stand

An X video about two young lemonade stand owners is gaining traction online after viewers learned what allegedly happened to them while trying to earn some extra cash.

David Byrne, 12, and his 11-year-old sister, Juliette, had set up a lemonade stand outside their South Boston home, according to CBS News. But their day took a frightening turn when two masked teens approached them—not to buy lemonade, but allegedly to rob them at gunpoint.

Two Masked Teens Robbed a Kids' Lemonade Stand, and One Got Caught

In the middle of selling lemonade to passersby and local residents, David Byrne and his sister were approached by two masked teens. The 12-year-old told the news outlet that one of the teens “walked over here, he said ‘I might need to take the box,’ and he grabbed it with one hand, and then he showed us the gun.”

The brother explained that the teen flashed the gun in his waistband, apparently indicating he intended to take the money. He also recalled his sister putting her hands up and him telling the two boys, “you can have it.”

Afterward, he said he was “a little annoyed because we were 12 and 11 and you shouldn't really do that." After grabbing the pink money box, which the siblings were using to store their earnings, the two teens took off.

They were later captured on surveillance video and in photos running away with the cash box in hand. CBS News later published surveillance images showing the suspects running away.

Police later recovered the box, there was no money inside, and it's unclear how much the brother and sister had raised before they were robbed.

Boston police were later able to identify one of the teens involved in the armed robbery. According to CBS News, the 14-year-old will be arraigned in Boston Juvenile Court on charges of armed robbery and unlawful possession of a firearm. The other teen had not been caught at the time of reporting.

“I'm pretty disgusted with it. They're young children,” the kids' father said in a statement, adding, “It was in the middle of broad daylight.”

While it was certainly a frightening experience, and the kids are lucky nothing worse happened, they reopened their lemonade stand later that same day and were even visited by the city's mayor, Michelle Wu.

In response to the outpouring of support, Juliette Byrne told the news outlet, “I never thought this many people would come. It really makes me feel happy.”