Boy Says Man Chased Him With Butcher Knife

A preteen claimed that a man with a butcher knife chased him around a Norcross-area apartment complex earlier this month, but police are skeptical of the incident.

According to a Gwinnett County Police report, the incident took place May 3 around 5 p.m. at , located at 4300 Jimmy Carter Boulevard in unincorporated Norcross.

The 11-year-old boy told police that he walked to his friend's apartment in building 300 to see if he could come out and play. When he arrived in the walkway of the building near his friend's door, he saw a man in a ski mask crouching down at a nearby apartment. He said it looked like the man was picking the lock on the door.

The boy said he ran away when the subject turned his head to look at him. Carrying a large knife, the suspect began to chase the kid, first to building 200 and then building 900 in the opposite direction. He said that the subject ran back to building 300 where he lost sight of him.

No one else was allegedly outside to witness the incident.

The responding police officer outright told the boy that some of his statements were doubtful. The officer gave the boy a speech on the necessity of honesty and not making up stories, but the preteen insisted that he wasn't lying.

His mom, 32, told police that her son's never made this type of allegation before, so she believed he was telling the truth.

When going to the 300 building, the officer saw no damage or tampering with the door the suspect had allegedly messed with.

And when the officer went to interview his friend, the boys' stories conflicted. The friend said that the boy knocked on his door and asked him if he could play, but he couldn't because he had homework. The victim originally told police he only went over there once and didn't even knock on the door.

The victim changed his story and said that he went over there twice, where he spoke to his friend once and the other time he didn't, which is when he saw the armed man.

When police asked the victim why he went over there a second time when his friend already said he couldn't play, his mom became upset and left with her son.

According to the victim's description, the man with the knife appeared to be white or hispanic and was wearing black sweat pants, a black long-sleeved shirt, and a black ski mask with holes for his eyes and mouth.