A 12-year-old boy shot and killed a home intruder after two armed men broke into their home and shot his 73-year-old grandmother on Saturday, authorities said.

Police said two masked men entered the 73-year-old Linda Ellis' home in Goldsboro, North Carolina, and demanded money. According to a New York Post report, the incident occurred past 12:30 a.m.

WRAL reported at least one of the suspects, identified as Khalil Herring, 19, was armed and allegedly shot Linda Ellis. Police said the suspect shot the woman in the leg, which prompted the 12-year-old to open fire.

"[The intruder] just shot his grandma... He would have shot him too, he would've shot me too, he would've killed us all," the boy's great-uncle and Ellis' son, Randolph Bunn, told WTVD.

Bunn said the two men came in the house, he opened the door, "and they came in and one guy had a gun." He said the two men just put him down on the ground and proceeded to the kitchen where Linda Ellis was shot.

Police said the 12-year-old boy shot at the suspects in self-defense, and the gunfire caused the intruders to back off. It was unclear how the unnamed boy got the gun. 

Shortly after, Herring was found at the intersection of William and Elm streets with a gunshot wound. He was brought to a nearby hospital, where he died from his injuries.

Authorities said that Ellis was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries and will likely be held there until Monday.

"Why would somebody come into her house and do this? It's got to stop," Linda Ellis' great-niece, Chiquita Coley, said in a Fox News report. 

Meanwhile, there was still no information released about the second suspect. Authorities said that the investigation is still ongoing. Police said that charges are not expected to be filed against the 12-year-old boy.

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Minors Shooting Home Intruders

It was not the first time that a minor fatally shot an intruder during a burglary. In 2015, a then 13-year-old boy from South Carolina shot one burglar suspect and scared off a second with his mother's gun, according to an NBC News report.

The unidentified teenager told the Charleston County Sheriff's Office that he was alone in his family's home when someone tried to break in.

According to a police report, he then grabbed his mother's gun and then waited at the back door of the home. Police said the boy repeatedly fired through the door, and someone outside shot back.

The suspect was then hit three times, and a getaway driver rushed the suspect, who was shot, to a hospital in Charleston. The suspect died of gunshot wounds.

Minors Using Guns

According to a BBC report, the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence said that 31 percent of U.S. households had at least one child and one gun kept in the home as of 2012.

The report noted that for many parents, being a responsible gun owner also means teaching kids to shoot and respect guns from an early age.

Children's involvement in the country's gun culture is too ingrained in some areas, with several schools closing on the first day of deer-hunting season. One company even sells weapons specifically for children, which is the Crickett Firearms.

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