Neighbour released on bond after shooting Black six-year-old retrieving a bike in his yard

‘He tried hitting me with sledgehammer but that’s not going to work because I’m too fast,’ six-year-old boy says of neighbour

A 29-year-old man has been released on bond after allegedly shooting a Black boy who was retrieving his bike from the man’s yard.

Arnold Daniel in Ypsilanti, west of Detroit, Michigan, said his kids were outside riding their bikes down the street when they stopped, leaving one of the bikes in front of the home of a neighbour.

When Mr Daniel’s son Coby returned to pick up his bike, the father said the neighbour exited his home holding a sledgehammer and said something to Coby. Mr Daniel told Fox 2 that he didn’t know exactly what was said but that his son had responded to the neighbour.

The neighbour returned inside, shooting a gun through the front window of his home and hitting the six-year-old in the arm, according to Mr Daniel.

“He tried hitting me with a sledgehammer but that’s not going to work because I’m too fast. [Then he] got a gun and BOOM shot me right here,” the six-year-old Coby told Fox 2, indicating the wounded spot.

The bullet went through his arm and he was quickly taken to hospital. Mr Daniel said the doctor told him that Coby would probably have died if the bullet had been an inch off in either direction.

Coby has since left the hospital and is thought to be okay.

The neighbour, identified as Ryan Le-Nguyen, was arrested by the Washtenaw County Sheriff and charged with assault with intent to murder.

He was released three days later on a $10,000 bond.

“I’m trying to figure out he got a bond so low for trying to kill my kid,” Mr Daniel said, angry and confused.

Footage from a video doorbell shows Coby yelling out in pain after being shot and an older child shouting for somebody to call the police.

“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,” Mr Daniel said of Coby.

Mr Le-Nguyen made the bond on Tuesday and was picked up by family. He was ordered not to return to his home, but Mr Daniel remains worried.

“I’m scared for my family because I don’t know what he’s capable of,” he told Fox 2.

The officer of the prosecutor told the local TV station that they were shocked by the low bond. A motion to raise it has been filed.

The Independent has reached to the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s office for comment.