Two young kids hoped to make some extra cash with a lemonade stand this summer. However, their business venture took a scary turn this week when they were robbed at gunpoint by two other kids in broad daylight!
According to the Boston Police Department, they responded to a report of an armed robbery in South Boston at around 4:44 p.m. on Wednesday. When police arrived at the scene, they spoke to two minor victims — later identified as 12-year-old David Byrne and his 11-year-old sister Juliette Byrne — who had been operating a lemonade stand in the area. The children claimed two suspects made several passes by the stand before approaching and asking whether they could use Apple Pay.
But before the two kids could respond, police allege that the suspects grabbed their box with money, and one of them “displayed a black firearm in his waistband” before fleeing the scene. OMG! How terrifying! Police released pictures and surveillance footage of the two suspects near the lemonade stand. See (below):
BPD Seeking Public Assistance Following Armed Robbery of Children’s Lemonade Stand in South Boston https://t.co/T14c64dKCA pic.twitter.com/N9eT1IXanU
— Boston Police Dept. (@bostonpolice) June 11, 2026
David recalled the incident to CBS News Boston, saying:
“He walked over here, he said, ‘I might need to take the box,’ and he grabbed it with one hand, and then he showed us the gun. My sister, she put her hands up and I just said, ‘You can have it.’ But after that I just was like a little annoyed because we were 12 and 11 and you shouldn’t really do that.”
A neighbor alleged to NBC10 Boston that she then saw the suspects with the money box. When they spotted her, she claimed they dropped it, grabbed the $50 inside, and ran away. Thankfully, the victims were not hurt. However, they are, understandably, shaken. Jennifer Bryne, the mother of the two children, said they are now traumatized over what happened:
“My daughter called me, I’m at work. She was in hysterics, crying, saying, ‘Somebody put a gun to us and took all of our money.’ They noticed two kids with masks over their face across the street they kept coming back and forth. … My daughter, the youngest one, she’s nervous to walk the two blocks to her bus stop.”
Oof…
A 14-year-old boy has since been arrested. NBC10 Boston reported that police said he will be arraigned in Boston Juvenile Court on charges of armed robbery and unlawful possession of a firearm. The authorities, however, are still asking the public to come forward with any information about the second suspect, who is believed to be either 10 or 11 years old.
As for the lemonade stand? Well, David and Juliette didn’t give up on it despite the scary incident! It reopened on Friday evening, and the entire neighborhood rallied around the kids, including Mayor Michelle Wu. Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn said half of the money raised from the stand will be donated to a local organization working to prevent gun violence. At least something positive will come out of this horrifying story.
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