orlandosentinel.com
The 14-year-old was walking to high school after sleeping late and missing the bus, when he decided to ask a neighbor for directions.
The woman who opened the door after Brennan Walker, who is black, knocked on it, started yelling at him. Then the woman's husband grabbed a shotgun and fired it at him, Walker and police officials said.
Walker told WJBK that "she was like, 'Why are you trying to break into my house?' I was trying to explain to her that I was trying to get directions to Rochester High. And she kept yelling at me. Then the guy came downstairs, and he grabbed the gun, I saw it and started to run. And that's when I heard the gunshot."
After sprinting away from the house, Brennan, who was not hit, hid and broke down in tears, the outlet reported.
"I'm kind of happy that, like, I didn't become a statistic," Brennan told the outlet, saying his mom had told him that black boys were at risk of being shot by others.
Jeffrey Zeigler, a retired firefighter who is white, was charged with assault with intent to murder and a felony firearm charge, local news outlets reported, and his bond was set at $50,000. He faces as much as life in prison, according to a video of his arraignment.
"There's a lot more to the story than what's being told and I believe that will all come out in court," Zeigler said at the arraignment. "I was in bed yesterday morning when my wife started screaming and crying ... "
The judge interrupted Zeigler to prevent him from finishing.
The man's wife appeared to have called 911 around 8:20 a.m. saying that her husband had chased after a black male who had tried to break in, according to the Associated Press.
