Certainly seems like a fairy tale, 2 things that jump out from the story. The teen referring to a gun as a ‘gat’, isn’t that a very old dated term? I definitely could be wrong but I find it hard to believe a teen would use it. Also, using the very old ‘freight’ robbery story to add a bit of truth to this piece. This whole story seems to me as totally fictional. It’s probably another one of those ‘composite’ things(/sar off)
I did jury duty a few years ago, a shooting case, and the whole thing had to be done through interpreters. Apparently, Spanish for gun is 'fuego'.
Yeah, that “gat” reference threw me off too. Seems a little cliched and contrived.