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(CNN)An 11-year-old St. Louis-area boy left alone at home with his 4-year-old sister staved off several home invasion attempts before finally shooting and killing a 16-year-old intruder, according to police.
At least one neighbor, however, offered a different account of the shooting, telling CNN affiliate KMOV that the boys were arguing on the front porch before the younger child pulled out a gun and shot the teenager.
The incident occurred Thursday afternoon in north St. Louis County. Police called to the home discovered the teenager's body lying in the front foyer.
The teenager -- whose name has not been released -- had been shot in the head by the 11-year-old while breaking into the home, according to police.
St. Louis County police Sgt. Brian Schellman said it was the third time that the 16-year-old had attempted to break into the house Thursday. Neither sibling was hurt.
One woman described by KMOV as a neighbor questioned the account. The woman, whose name was not given by the station, said the 16-year-old didn't enter the house.
"They were just arguing loud, you know, back and forth," the woman said.
"He was always was just sitting right there on the porch," she said. "He never did once go inside the house."
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Donna Jackson told the newspaper that she saw the 11-year-old shoot the 16-year-old at point-blank range as they talked near the front door.
“It was not a break-in,” said Jackson, 45. “He shot him in the head.”
Jazmyne Clark, 18, who lives two doors down from the shooting scene, said the 11-year-old was on the front porch when he told the 16-year-old to approach him. When the 16-year-old reached the front door, the younger boy shot him, Clark said.
“He was never in the house,” Clark told the newspaper. “He wasn’t breaking in at all. He was just trying to sell him his phone.”
But Sharon Taylor, who lives next door to where the shooting happened and said she is a cousin of the 11-year-old’s father, said the boy is not a troublemaker. She doubted the break-in story, however, calling it unlikely to happen in the middle of the day.