A brave young son saved his mother and risked his own safety as he protected her from three masked attackers. Deonte Turner, 12, was with his mother, Barbara Whitehead, as they returned from her sister's house in the early morning hours of Tuesday. As they pulled into the driveway of their Detroit home, three men suddenly appeared and began cursing at Whitehead and demanding she give them money. That is when young Deonte stepped in to protect his mother, and one of the men stabbed him in the arm. Scroll down for video . Deonte Turner (above), 12, of Detroit , Michigan, stepped in to protect his mother as three masked men yelled profanities at her and demanded her money . The incident happened when Barbara Whithead (above) got out of her car in her driveway (in background) after returning home in the early hours of Tuesday . 'I told them we didn't have any damn money, but he just kept asking for money. And he kept talking really rough and in vulgar language,' Whitehead told the Detroit Free Press. 'And my son, he didn't like them talking to his mom like that.' That is when Deonte stepped in to intervene. 'He just told them don't talk to my mom like that. And then he saw it coming because he threw his arm up,' Whitehead said of the knife. 'He was like, "My arm, my arm."' The men ran off immediately after, and Whitehead, 44, rushed her son to the hospital where he was treated and released later that morning. 'He didn't cry. My son didn't cry,' said Whitehead. 'He was like, "Is Mom OK?"' Denote placed himself between the men and his mother, at which point one of the men stabbed him in the arm . And while the mother is incredibly proud of what her son did to protect her, she does not want him risking his own safety in the future - even if it is to protect her. 'When someone asks us for something, just try to give it to them. Try to cooperate,' she said. Authorities are still searching for the three men responsible for the attack. Meanwhile, Assistant Detroit Police Chief Steve Dolunt has called what Deonte did for his mother 'extremely commendable.'
Deonte Turner, 12, of Detroit, Michigan, stepped in to protect his mother as three masked men yelled profanities at her and demanded her money . The incident happened when Barbara Whithead got out of her car in her driveway after returning home in the early hours of Tuesday . Denote placed himself between the men and his mother, at which point one of the men stabbed him in the arm . The three men ran off immediately after and police are still searching for the attackers . Deonte was taken to the hospital, treated and released a few hours later . Assistant Detroit Police Chief Steve Dolunt has called what Deonte did for his mother 'extremely commendable'