13-Year-Old Shot To Death During Break-In

A 13-year-old boy was fatally shot early Thursday, apparently while trying to burglarize a home in this Pierce County community.

The dead boy was identified as Travis Duncan, a student at Ford Middle School who lived about a mile away from the home where he was killed.

The 47-year-old homeowner was awakened about 1 a.m. by the noise of somebody prying open a window, sheriff’s office spokesman Curt Benson said. The intruder apparently had first broken into the garage and taken some garden tools that were used to pry open the window, Benson said.

The homeowner grabbed a 12-gauge shotgun and fired at the intruder when the two confronted each other, Benson said.

Duncan was hit in the lower right buttock and was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital, where he died.

The homeowner had not been arrested, and officials would decide later whether he was justified in using deadly force, Benson said.