A black 14-year-old boy has allegedly been shot at after knocking on a door to ask for directions.

Brennan Walker had been in the Michigan city of Rochester Hills, which is on Detroit's northern outskirts, on Thursday morning looking for the local high school.

He said he had missed the bus and didn't have his mobile phone so was struggling to find his way.

He knocked on the door of a home on South Christian Hills Drive and a woman answered.

Brennan, who lives in Rochester Hills, told WJBK-TV: "She started yelling at me and she was like: 'Why are you trying to break into my house?'


"I was trying to explain to her that I was trying to get directions to Rochester High.

"And she kept yelling at me.

"Then the guy came downstairs, and he grabbed the gun, I saw it and started to run.

"And that's when I heard the gunshot."

Brennan's mother, Lisa Wright, was shown security footage from the house by police and said she thought the woman's reaction was racially-motivated - the householders were white.

"After watching the video and hearing the wife say 'why did these people choose my house?' I knew it was racially-motivated," she told WXYZ-TV.

"I don't know what other 'these people' she could possibly have been talking about. He was by himself."

Image: Jeffery Zeigler. Pic: Orange County Sheriff's Office

Jeffery Zeigler, a 53-year-old retired firefighter, has been charged with assault with intent to murder and possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony.

He appeared in court on Friday via prison videolink.

The court heard a woman had called police saying her husband had chased a black male who tried to break in.

Zeigler was arrested soon afterwards and Brennan was found a bit later down the street, shaken but unhurt.

Assistant prosecutor Kelly Collins said Zeigler's account differed from Brennan's but the teenager's account was supported by the security footage.

Zeigler said: "There's a lot more to the story than what's being told and I believe that will come out in court.

"I was in bed yesterday morning and my wife came screaming and crying..."

The judge stopped him, however, as his lawyer was not in court for the hearing.

Zeigler's bond was set at $50,000.

He was ordered to have no contact with the teen's family, to wear a GPS tether and to surrender any weapons to the sheriff's office.

He has also been banned from returning to his house and must stay at least 10 miles from the home of his alleged victim.

Zeigler had pleaded with the judge to let him remain at home "and keep my family together", saying: "I promise to have no contact with the gentleman."

He will reappear at court on 24 April.