A gun-toting grandma tried to protect her teen grandson during a fight with another boy but landed herself in jail.
Joyce Brown, 72, of Memphis, Tennessee, fired a warning shot into the asphalt outside a community center on Jan. 15, sending kids and onlookers running.
According to court documents, her grandson was fighting another boy in the parking lot of Mitchell Community Center, which is next to Mitchell High School, when things quickly spiraled out of control.
Brown, who is also the pastor of a church, told police she fired the gun after she heard kids threatening to flip her car, according to court records. Security cameras from the center captured the event and reportedly showed a crowd of teens scatter after the shot rang out.
She was taken into custody and charged with three counts of reckless endangerment, child abuse or neglect and endangerment, unlawful possession of a weapon in a public place, and carrying a weapon on school property, according to records.
But Marcus Clark, Brown’s son, praised her for intervening. In an interview with Fox13 Memphis, he said the teen was the victim of persistent bullying and believed his mom did the right thing to protect her grandson. He also had a message for parents of kids who bully other students:
“Now when you tell the neighbor the child did something,” he said, “you want to argue about what your child didn’t do? That’s the problem. When are we going to be men and women? Start being parents instead of friends.”
The arrest has sparked a fierce debate on social media about bullying and accountability, with many in the community calling on police to “Free Granny.”
“Let’s put granny in jail for protecting family but let murders walk. Make it make sense,” wrote one Joyce supporter on the community center’s Facebook page. Another asked her, “Ma’am can I hire you to pick up my kids?”
“That lady scared and fed up, these young ppl are wild. I bet she told them to stop and leave her grandbaby alone 20 times before she shot in the GROUND WHICH WAS THE WARNING SHOT. FREE GRANNY,” wrote another, followed by, “Babyyyyy how can we send money for grandma lawyer fees!!!! FREE GRANNY.”
“Kids need to get some where and sit down and learn how to respect their elders and grown folks period,” said another.
While a vast majority of commenters support Brown’s decision to intervene in the altercation, some found her actions reckless, especially around children. “You do not bring guns onto school property. Period,” wrote one.
“Ok, I hate to see her in jail, but honestly, if that bullet had ricocheted and killed one of those kids, it would have been a different story. I don’t know if the school knew about the bullying but if they did they should have handled those students before it came to this. Although she was trying to protect herself and her grandson, she was arrested for bringing a weapon on campus. You will get arrested for that no matter who you are, period!” noted another.
Facing serious charges, Brown’s bond was reportedly set at $20,000. Her son, Marcus, told the news outlet that she was out on bond on Jan. 16. In a GoFundMe he started to help cover the costs of her defense, he wrote, “She is a sweet 72-year-old woman that pride won’t allow her to ask anybody for help,” adding that “her intentions were not to hurt anyone.”
