(Memphis) It takes a brave young man to stand up to gang violence. It’s exactly what deputies say a Northaven teen did that got him in a dangerous situation.
But the 15-year-old is now getting the last laugh, because his attackers are now in jail.
WREG spoke to the young man and he says even though he was jumped and somebody even pointed a shotgun at him, he would still stand up again against gang violence today.
“They jumped a student and I told the principal their names and they were kicked out,” said Joshua Holloway, now a ninth-grader at Millington High School.
Joshua did what most teenagers might not.
While at Woodstock Middle School last year, he told the principal about violence he knew about and who was responsible. It got a gang member expelled.
“He was in the office with me and he seen me.”
After breaking Joshua’s window last year for revenge, just this month Shelby County deputies say the juvenile gang member, along with three others, including an adult, Eltonio Howze, jumped Joshua on a Northaven Street.
“One of them pulled out a gun?” asked reporter Sabrina Hall.
“Shotgun. Yes, ma’am,” said Joshua.
“What did he say?” asked Hall.
“He said he was going to shoot me if I didn’t get back off,” said Joshua.
“Because you were fighting back?”
“Yeah.”
“Four guys?”
“Yes ma’am.”
“And you were holding your own?”
“Yeah.”
All four of his attackers are now in jail after deputies say they not only pulled a gun on him but his mother who went out looking for them.
“When we approached them, they ran back in the house and got a shotgun and cocked it and he pointed it at our car and said ‘What you going to do now?’”
Being that close to gun violence, Joshua says he would still tell the principal again in order to protect our youth.
“I don’t want to be in a gang,” said 11-year-old Timberand Lawson, Joshua’s brother. “I don’t want to go to jail. I don’t want to do nothing. I want to be myself.”
Joshua is an obvious role model for his younger brother.
“You are a brave young man. Why would you stand up for something like this?” asked Hall.
“You should,” said Joshua. “Somebody could be scared to speak up for themselves. If someone is doing wrong, something should be done about it.”
Deputies haven’t released the names of three of his attackers because they are juveniles.
Howze, on the other hand, is charged with three counts of aggravated assault and in jail on a $10,000 bond.
