Local man hailed a hero in shooting following Haywood County football game

BROWNSVILLE, Tenn. — Leaders with the Brownsville Police Department are calling Patrick Shields a hero.

The Brownsville native said he came to Friday night’s homecoming game to see his son play.

But after the game ended, police say a fight broke out in the parking lot of the Haywood High School stadium.

As Shields was packing up to leave, he said he heard a gunshot.

“The second two pops. I could actually see the flames from the barrel that the weapon was, I said ‘that’s a weapon, that’s a weapon’,” said Patrick Shields.

Serving in the U.S. Army National Guard for 22 years, Shields said his training immediately kicked in.

“As he came up on me, I can see him running past this fence and he was running actually with the gun in his hand, at this point, and I just grabbed this hand and go back here, fall and then go to the ground with him, ‘boom’ on the ground,” said Shields.

Once Shields had the teen on the ground he said he began questioning him.

“I was actually saying, ‘what is going on what’s wrong with you? You shooting at these kids and these families out here are you crazy?, is something wrong with you?’,” said Shields.

That’s when Shields’ brother, Greg came along to help, by placing his foot on the gun.

“Nobody could take it, my brother was on the ground, if somebody get the gun they could have shot him in the back, you know I was looking at it like that,” said Greg Shields.

The brothers both said they aren’t heroes, they were just simply doing what they thought was the right thing.

“I don’t think I did nothing heroic, I was just trying to save some lives,” said Patrick Shields.

Brownsville Police said the teen accused in the shooting is charged with criminal attempt to commit 1st degree murder, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment.

He’s currently being held in a juvenile detention center in Memphis.