An 88-year-old liquor store owner was arrested after shooting an alleged shoplifter in Nashville, Tennessee, explaining she was “fed up” by her store getting robbed.
Boyce was ultimately charged with aggravated assault.
“I did what I had to do,” added Boyce, who is out on $10,000 bond. “After you’ve been played for a fool by people stealin’ from you for years, you get fed up. And don’t put me in the category of a little old lady. I know how to take care of myself.”
She told the paper that she has been robbed several times over the past several years.
In the incident, a suspect identified as Ramon Fisher, attempted to steal several Crown Royal whiskey bottles.
Boyce said she wasn’t aiming for the alleged thief, but she shot him in the back, the report said.
“I never shot a gun before,” Boyce said, “but I guess it’s something that comes natural.”
She added that “I aimed at the floor to scare him.”
Boyce added to the Post that she voluntarily went to the police station.
“I went down, got my mugshot taken, got out on bond and came right back to the store,” she said. “I got some people to help me but it took us to 1 a.m. to clean up all the wine that spilled everywhere.”
“She is a sweet old lady who minds her own business. She opens this liquor store up every single day by herself, and she closes it down every night by herself,” Burch wrote. “Now she’s charged with a crime for defending herself? Give me a break.”
According to the affidavit, officials said they visited Fisher at Vanderbilt Hospital, saying that he was high on cocaine and alcohol when he tried to steal from Boyce’s store. The next day, Fisher said he and his friend were going to pay for the alcohol and weren’t stealing it.
