Iowa City man sentenced to five years for bringing gun to school

An Iowa City man was sentenced this week to five years in prison on charges he brought a gun onto school grounds and threatened staff members at Grant Wood Elementary School in November, according to the Johnson County Attorney’s Office.

Brandon J. Jones, 31, pleaded guilty in February to carrying weapons on school grounds, a felony, and two charges of first-degree harassment, an aggravated misdemeanor count. He was sentenced Monday to five years on the carrying weapons charge and two years each on the harassment charges. But the sentences will run concurrently, for a total of five years, according to a news release.

On Nov. 29, 2023, Jones walked into Grant Wood to try to confront Principal Ernest Cox about the school sending Jones’ son home. Staff members told police he demanded to see the principal and threatened multiple times to assault Cox.

Jones also threatened to assault Ryan Brown, a school facilitator who attempted to de-escalate the situation, a criminal complaint stated. At one point, Jones removed his loaded pistol from his belt holster, handed it to his girlfriend, who was with him, and told her to “hold this so I don’t do something stupid with it.”

Cox and Brown both testified during a sentencing hearing Monday, and a written statement was submitted by another, unidentified, school employee who was present that day, according to the news release.

“I don’t think anyone realizes how much it hurts on a personal level to have the father of a child who I can say I only ever met with care and kindness come in and shake up my existence the way Mr. Jones did,” the written statement said.

Jones also spoke during the hearing, describing his actions and “regrettable” and saying that school officials may have misunderstood him or perceived the event incorrectly, the release states.

“This crime is yet another example of the ongoing danger of guns in schools. I am grateful that the staff of Grant Wood Elementary were able to prevent further violence and applaud their resilience. I am also grateful for the prompt and professional response by the Iowa City Police Department who took the defendant into custody without incident,” Johnson County Attorney Rachel Zimmermann Smith said in a statement.

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