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Two children operating a lemonade stand in South Boston were robbed at gunpoint Wednesday afternoon by two juvenile suspects who remain at large, according to Boston police.
Officers responded to a radio call reporting an armed robbery on West Ninth Street near E Street at approximately 4:44 p.m. on Wednesday (June 11). The victims, an 11-year-old and 12-year-old sibling pair, told police they were running their neighborhood lemonade stand when two suspects made several passes by the stand before approaching.
The suspects asked whether the children accepted Apple Pay as payment. Before the young entrepreneurs could respond, one suspect grabbed their cashbox containing about $50 in cash. As the pair fled, one suspect displayed a black firearm in his waistband, according to the police report.
Jennifer Byrne, the victims' mother, said her children called her at work in hysterics. "They're hysterical, saying, someone just came with a gun and took all of our money," she told WBTS.
David Byrne, the children's father, described the incident as appalling. "They came back and said, we're just going to take this, and they took my son's and daughter's money bank that they had all their cash in," he said. "And as they did that they flashed a gun that they had in their waistband. This is appalling, this is grotesque."
The suspects are described as two juvenile males. One is a Black male approximately 14 years old, wearing a black Nike balaclava, black shirt, shorts of unknown color, and high white socks. The second suspect is described as a Black male approximately 11 years old, also wearing a black balaclava. Both suspects fled on foot toward Dorchester Street.
A neighbor reportedly saw the suspects with the cashbox on Grimes Street. When spotted, they dropped the box, grabbed the cash, and ran. The empty cashbox was recovered nearby, but the money was gone.
No one was physically injured during the robbery, but the psychological impact on the young victims is significant. "My daughter, the youngest one, she's nervous to walk the two blocks to her bus stop," Jennifer Byrne said.
Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn, who represents portions of South Boston, condemned the incident in a statement. "There is little I can think of more disturbing than the innocence of a children's lemonade stand being violated by an armed robbery," Flynn said in a Facebook post. "As a City, we have to finally acknowledge we have serious public safety issues in Boston."
Boston police have released surveillance video and images of the two suspects walking near the lemonade stand. The Boston Regional Intelligence Center reported that its cameras did not face toward the incident location.
No arrests have been made. Police are asking anyone with information to contact detectives at 617-343-4742 or submit anonymous tips through the CrimeStoppers Tip Line by calling 1-800-494-TIPS or texting the word 'TIP' to CRIME (27463).