Cops: Woman Shot Teen Grandson 8 Times

A Michigan grandmother who said she was afraid of her grandson has been charged with murder after shooting the teenager eight times, according to law enforcement authorities. The 17-year-old boy called 911 to tell an emergency dispatcher that he had been shot in the chest by his grandmother, and "was going to die," AP reports. Sandra Layne, 74, shot her grandson at least four more times with her Glock semi-automatic after he made the call, police report.

Layne "exclaimed that she had just murdered her grandson" after officers arrived at her home in a Detroit suburb, a court hearing was told yesterday. Her lawyer says Layne was afraid of her grandson and used her new handgun because she felt she had no choice. She hasn't told investigators why she was afraid, or why she didn't send the teen to his parents, who recently moved to Arizona but left their son in Michigan to finish his senior year at high school, the Detroit Free Press reports. (More Detroit stories.)