On Wednesday, a 13-year-old runaway gunman, who engaged in a shootout with Florida deputies last year with his female friend, was sentenced. The pint-sized gunman pleaded no contest to his charges and was sentenced to juvenile detention.
WESH-TV reported Travis O’Brien, 12, and his accomplice, 14-year-old Nicole Jackson, were hiding out in a Volusia County house in June after they broke out of a local group home and opened fire on cops with a shotgun and an AK-47.
“He’s a little tiny, little boy, and he got into a big mess,” defense attorney Jeff Deen told the station Wednesday. “He wasn’t in control of his situation, and he can’t understand some of the things that we understand.”
O’Brien pleaded no contest to charges of burglary, criminal mischief, and attempted murder of law enforcement officers. He was placed in a maximum-risk assessment program followed by conditional release.
The outlet reported the sentence could not exceed his 21 birthday.
Jackson, now 15, has a pending case against her.
On June 1, the pint-sized crime duo busted out of the Florida United Methodist Children’s Home and broke into an empty house in nearby Enterprise.
After Sheriff’s deputies responded to reports of a break-in, they soon found themselves under gunfire. The sheriffs were held a bay by the adolescents for more than 35 minutes.
“They’re shooting on me,” one deputy is heard saying on the viral video of the incident. “Hold the air. I’m code 4. She’s re-racking around inside the shotgun!”
“Let’s not engage them anymore,” the dispatcher is heard responding. “Let’s not challenge them.”
After getting hit with return fire, Jackson is heard squalling on the footage. Authorities took both of the runaways into custody.
Jackson was offered adoption last year by a local couple.