A man has gone on trial charged with assault with intent to murder after he shot at a 14-year-old boy who got lost on his way to school. Jeffrey Zeigler can be seen in CCTV footage bare-chested as he stands on his porch and shoots towards the boy, who has turned and is running for his life.
Teenager Brennan Walker appeared on the Zeigler's porch when he missed his school bus and got lost trying to walk to class. He stopped at their house in the hope they could give him directions, but instead, he was met with a hysterical Dana Zeigler who assumed the black boy was trying to burgle their home.
A trial in the USA has heard from Mrs Zeigler, who took the stand as a witness in her husband's trial. She said she had no idea Brennan was a schoolboy as he looked like a man. The court heard Mrs Zeigler say: "I saw a black person standing at my door and I screamed at him and I asked him what he was doing there."He tells me that he is going to school and at that point, he approaches the door, forward momentum, comes forward, opens the screen door, and puts his hand on the door handle again, as though he's coming into my house.
Fox News in the USA reported that she told the court she screamed for her husband who was asleep and called 911. The call was also played during the trial. She added: "He didn't look like a child. He was a rather big man standing there, and also, if he was going to school, we have no schools in our area, Zeigler, a retired firefighter, also took the stand in his own trial to explain the events April 12, in Rochester Hills, Michigan. He explained that he meant to shoot the gun in the air but slipped on the wet porch.He added that he was remorseful and if he had his time again he would have given the boy a lift to school.The trial continues.