Hunter
03/26/24
An Iowa City man who brought a gun into Grant Wood Elementary School because he was upset his boy was sent home from school has been sentenced to five years in prison.
According to the original release from the Iowa City Community School District and the arrest report from the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, Iowa City Police were called to the school just after 9 am on November 23rd last year. 32-year-old Brandon Jones of The Quarters on Highway 6 East entered the building and the main office to reportedly confront the principal about sending his son home from school. Staff at the school reported that Jones demanded to see the principal and threatened multiple times to assault the principal. He also allegedly threatened another staff member who tried to de-escalate the situation.
At one point, Jones reportedly removed a loaded pistol and holster from his belt, handed it to his girlfriend who accompanied him and reportedly told her to hold the weapon for him so he wouldn’t do “something stupid” with it. Jones then went into the school halls to look for the principal, against the protests of staff. When members of the staff informed Jones they were calling police, he reportedly left the building and got his weapon back from his girlfriend before being stopped by police.
According to a news release from the County Attorney’s Office, Jones described his actions as “regrettable” at his sentencing hearing, and said school officials may have misunderstood him or perceived the event incorrectly.
Johnson County Attorney Rachel Zimmermann Smith said, “This crime is yet another example of the ongoing danger of guns in schools.”
The court sentenced Jones to an indeterminate sentence of five years for the Class D felony of Carrying Weapons on School Grounds, indeterminate sentences of two years each on the aggravated misdemeanors of Harassment in the First Degree, and ordered the sentences to run concurrently.