That’s exactly what happened when a Geauga County teen grabbed his mom’s 9mm handgun and stopped a burglar in his tracks. Last week, 16-year-old Brayden Jarrett had just returned to his Montville home from school when a strange car pulled up to his house.
He grew up as a hunter and took gun safety training courses, so he knew how to handle the situation.
Brayden later said the car and the man he did not recognize walking up to his house caught him off guard. Despite it being in the middle of the afternoon, the young man was suspicious enough that he retrieved his mother’s handgun.
At first, he said, “I thought it was my uncle, I mean yes, it was a little scary. When it happened and I was like, I didn’t want to shoot the guy, but if he was coming, I had no other choice.”
Jarrett told WOIO-TV that he retrieved the gun and remained hidden between the kitchen and living room. In what had to be a terrifying scene, the young man watched the stranger walk straight up to the front of the home. Finding the first door locked, the suspect then approached a second door and found it unlocked.
The stranger entered through the door. Jarrett recounted that he then “cocked the gun back” and “pointed it at the door.”
The intruder, who undoubtedly expected to encounter no resistance, quickly fled back through the door when he saw the teenager with the firearm pointed at him. Jarrett said he had never “pulled a gun out of anything before…(it) was definitely something I wish no one to go through, pulling a gun on someone.”
“It was definitely scary.”
Brayden’s first call was to his mother, who was at work. As he relayed the details of the dramatic encounter, he saw the suspect’s car pass the house again and decided it was time to make another call.
Brayden then contacted the Geauga County Sheriff’s Department. After he filed a report, he was able to positively identify Zachary Stutzman of Hartsgrove Township as the suspect. WJW-TV reported that Stutzman is now charged with burglary.
Ashleigh Jarrett praised her brave son to local media for his heroics.
“Most proud, that is definitely like one of those awakening moments like as a mom, a single mom,” she enthusiastically declared. “My baby has become my protector, and it’s a little heartbreaking that he’s old enough to do these things, but at the same time, he protected our home.”
The proud mother said she remains on edge after the incident and noted that “we could have lost a lot that day. I could’ve lost him.” She said there are now cameras in her home which she had never wanted before.
Ashleigh also reported that she works with her phone propped up so she can monitor her home through the cameras while away.
With school just letting out and the mother at work, the suspect likely expected to find an empty home that he could take advantage of. Instead, he found an armed and trained teenager who stood up and valiantly defended the residence.
This is yet another example of the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens coming to the rescue against criminals who have no regard for freedoms or safety. The young man had proper training, and experience and instinct told him how to respond when facing a clear and present threat.
These are the stories that deserve to be amplified, and they should reassure every liberty-loving American that our sacred constitutional rights are worth defending.
