10yo Pennsylvania boy enters Dollar Tree, allegedly demands money. Then he stabs an employee multiple times when answer isn’t yes

A 10-year-old boy has been accused of entering a Dollar Tree store in Pennsylvania and stabbing an employee in an alleged robbery attempt. Police say that the boy brandished a knife and demanded money before things turned violent.

At approximately 5:06 p.m. on Monday June 29, police responded to reports of an incident in the Dollar Tree store in Swatara Township near Harrisburg, PA reports PEOPLE. A press release from the Swatara Township Police Department states that when officers arrived at the store they found the unnamed ten-year-old boy had been detained by the employees of the store.

One of the employees had been injured in the incident, allegedly receiving multiple stab wounds from the young boy after jumping in with other workers to help another employee that had been threatened by the grade-school age kid.

Netizens responded to the news online, expressing shock at the young age of the suspected offender, “At what point do parents need to be held criminally responsible for the violent actions of their minor children?” asked one person on X.

Many others agreed that the parents must bear some, if not all, of the responsibility for the child’s actions. “what’s the cutoff age for holding parents liable[?]” another person asked. Another questioned “at what point do we stop pretending a 10-year-old acts in a vacuum and start asking what they saw at home.”

Dollar Tree robbery timeline

According to the police statement the police spoke to witnesses who saw the young boy enter the store while holding a fixed-blade knife. He then approached an employee and demanded she give him the money. 

Upon realizing what was happening, other employees in the store jumped in to help the woman who was being threatened. In the chaos that ensued one employee received a number of stab wounds while trying to subdue the boy. The boy was ultimately detained prior to the cops arriving on the scene.

While the severity of the employee’s injuries have not been shared it did require reportedly medical treatment according to police. The identity of the injured employee was also not disclosed.

Due to the state laws in Pennsylvania, the child won’t be tried as an adult for the crime (that only applies to cases of murder). The age of criminal responsibility is 18 in most states.

The juvenile was arrested by officers and charged with “Robbery, Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon and Possessing an Instrument of a Crime,” as per the Swatara Police Department Statement. The young boy is “currently being held in a secured detention facility pending his court proceedings.”