A 14-year-old boy whose father was murdered six years ago says he was protecting his grandmother after he fatally shot a man who was trying to break into his grandparents’ home on Tuesday in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Anthony Hernandez was visiting his grandparents, George and Anna Marie Wyant, when he said he heard a loud bang at the back of the house around 5:15 p.m. The suspect, 18-year-old Isai Delcid, was allegedly trying to break into a back window.

“Then I went and I got the gun,” Anthony told a local CBS affiliate. “I told the guy — and I said who is that, and the person hit [the window] again.”

“Then I said I have a gun, and they hit it another time. And they hit it again. I said stop and the guy broke through. And that’s when I shot,” he told WBT Radio in a telephone interview.

A few minutes later, Mrs. Wyant told a 911 operator what had happened.

“The man was breaking into the window,” she said in the call, the Charlotte Observer reported. “He was halfway in the window. My grandson told him to stop and get out of here, and he didn’t so my grandson shot him. … Somebody just broke in the house, and we shot him.”

Police found Delcid shot to death on the Wyants’ back deck. Police said they believe the fatal shooting was justified and have not charged the teen with a crime.

Delcid’s older brother, Carlos Delcid, who was reportedly in charge of operating the getaway car, was later arrested for 1st degree burglary.

The shooting comes six years after Anthony’s father, Gregorio Hernandez, 35, was shot to death while working on a car at the auto shop he owned. Victor Vasquez was later found guilty of first-degree murder in that killing.

“[Hernandez] was a mechanic,” Mr. Wyant told the Observer. “It was his garage. Someone came in and shot him to death.”

Hernandez’s death motivated the Wyants to begin teaching their grandchildren self-defense.

“I took [Anthony] to a shooting range,” Mr. Wyant said. “All the boys, I wanted them to learn gun safety. That’s what all of us should have for protection. These are different ages, and you have to protect yourself.”

Mrs. Wyant said the teen is “his grandmother’s hero.”

“If I was by myself, God knows what they would have done to me,” she told the Observer.

Sign up for Daily Newsletters Manage Newsletters

Copyright © 2020 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.