Northshore authorities say three children between the ages of 12 and 14 have been charged with the burglaries of seven homes in the Slidell area.
According to Police Chief Freddy Drennen, the three were charged after being caught firing a stolen semiautomatic rifle at a Slidell park.
Investigators say that upon further questioning of the youths, the three admitted to stealing from empty houses, not long after moving to the Slidell neighborhood.
Drennen says he was taken aback not only by the ages of the suspects, but how fast they started their alleged crime spree.
"Especially when we learned they moved here on May 1 and pulled their first burglary on May 2. I guess they were getting acquainted with the neighborhood by burglarizing it," Drennen said.
According to Drennen, the suspects confessed to detectives that after knocking on the door of a home to make sure no one was there, they would look for an unlocked door or window for entry.
Drennen said that almost all of the stolen property was recovered from the homes of the suspects.
The stolen items included the rifle, cell phones, video games, a chain saw, jewelry, a computer, and bullets.
(Suspect's face in photo above blurred out because of his minor status.)
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