A suburban Detroit father is irate after the man suspected of shooting his 6-year-old son through the front window of his home as the child retrieved his bike from the neighbor’s yard was released after a judge gave him $10,000 bond.
Arnold Daniel said his 6-year-old son Coby doesn’t fully comprehend what kind of danger he was truly in as he played outside his home on Candlewood Lane in Ypsilanti Township, Michigan, on Saturday, June 5.
“Right now, he’s not even processing what happened. He doesn’t realize how close he came to not being here … but I realize it,” Daniel said.
On Saturday, Coby and his siblings were riding bikes outside their home when Coby left his bike in a neighbor’s yard.
The neighbor, identified as 29-year-old Ryan Le-Nguyen came out of his home as Coby retrieved the bike, and threatened the boy with a sledgehammer, the witnesses said. According to Daniel, Le-Nguyen said something to his son and Coby replied, although he’s not sure what he said.
“He tried hitting me with a sledgehammer but that’s not going to work because I’m too fast,” Coby told Fox 2.
Police say Le-Nguyen went back inside his home and shot a gun through the front window, striking Coby in the arm.
Footage of the incident captured on a Ring camera shows a gunshot ring out before Coby screams.
“What?” another boy asked him.
“He shot me! He shot me!” Coby yelled.
“He’s bleeding, he got shot!” the older boy said. “Call the (expletive) police!”
Coby was taken to a hospital, where a doctor said the bullet, which entered and exited through his right arm, would have likely killed him if it had struck an inch to either side. He is now recovering at home.
On social media, Fox 2 reporter Jessica Dupnack was criticized for asking Coby, “Did it hurt?” as she spoke to him about the incident.
“Yes!” Coby replied.
“I know she didn’t just ask him did it hurt,” user andjanthony wrote in the comment section of an Instagram post about the incident.
“I know he wanted to say ‘DUH TF,'” another added
“‘DiD iT hUrT’… girl are you dumb?” questioned user ahxsn.
“She just asked child if a gunshot hurt,” wrote uneeklessons. “Rubbing me the wrong way that’s a child don’t look at our kids like they so tough that you’re insensitive and dehumanize like we don’t feel pain.”
Daniel said they’ve had problems with Le-Nguyen before and that he once tried to throw away one of the his children’s bike. He believes Le-Nguyen was upset that the bike was in his yard on the day of the shooting.
Le-Nguyen was arrested by the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Department and was charged with assault with intent to murder.
On Tuesday, Le-Nguyen was released after posting bond, which a judge set at just $10,000. The prosecutor’s office said they requested $100,000 bond. Eli Savit added in a Facebook post last Tuesday evening that they’ve filed an emergency motion seeking the cancel Le-Nguyen’s bond.
“We share in the community’s pain and anger from a child being shot. And we know that, for many, the pain and anger is compounded by the fact that the defendant was able to make his bond as set by the court.
To be clear: our office recommended significantly more restrictive bond conditions, and we disagree with the bond decision that was handed down by the court. That is why, on Tuesday afternoon, we filed an emergency motion to cancel the defendant’s bond, and for his bond to be reconsidered.”
“I’m trying to figure out he got a bond so low for trying to kill my kid,” Daniel said. Le-Nguyen was ordered not to return home, but Daniel said that’s not enough and that he fears for his family’s safety.
“I don’t know what he’s capable of,” he said. “I’m irate really, I can’t function.” An emergency motion to raise the bond has been filed.
