The fiancée of a 28-year-old man arrested for allegedly shooting the grandfather of a young boy he thought had pulled his 6-year-old daughter's hair on a school bus on Long Island told NBC 4 New York at his arraignment Thursday that one of the boy's relatives pulled the weapon first.
Ayesha Clinton, who is also the mother of the 6-year-old girl in Tuesday's alleged hair-pulling, said she and her fiancé Anthony Franklin went to the North Amityville home of the 5-year-old boy they thought was involved to talk to his family.
Clinton says the boy has been bullying their daughter on the school bus for some time and they wanted to put a stop to it.
A tussle erupted as Clinton and Franklin were talking to the relatives, one of the boy's family members tried to pull a gun, Clinton says. She says Franklin grabbed the gun away and fired. Wilson McWilliams, the boy's grandfather, was shot. He was hospitalized in stable condition.
Franklin was arrested Wednesday on an assault charge.
It wasn't clear from Clinton which of the boy's relatives had allegedly pulled the gun. She says she wants to clear her fiancé's name.
"He did not go there with a gun," Clinton said. "I want people to know he's not a monster."
Franklin was expected to be arraigned Thursday. Information on his attorney wasn't immediately available.
