85-Year Old Woman Admits To Packing Heat, Says She Never Pulled Gun

An 85-year old woman who was hauled off in handcuffs on Saturday says she did have a loaded gun but never pointed it at anyone.

Viola Walker of Cowpens was charged with two felony counts of pointing and presenting a firearm after an incident involving two of her relatives. She spent about four hours in jail before being released on $10,000 bond. She says the worst part was using her one phone call to call her husband of 52 years and tell him she had been arrested.

"He said, 'What?!' and I said, 'I'm in jail. Come get me out.' And he said, 'Okay, I'm on my way'," says Walker. "He never even asked what I was in jail for!"

She says that's because her husband, Carl, already had a good idea of what had happened. The couple owns a mobile home on East Main Street Extension in Spartanburg. She says they are allowing her 76-year old sister and her sister's granddaughter to live there free of charge, along with the granddaughter's 5-year old son, on one condition:

"I told them when they moved in that they couldn't have any men staying there overnight," says Walker.

She says she drove past the home Saturday morning and noticed a man's car in the driveway and decided to confront her relatives. She admits that she carried her .25 caliber revolver into the home and confronted the man who was sitting on the couch.

"I just told him I'd shoot his tires out from under the car if he didn't get out of there," says Walker. "I had (the gun) in my pocket and I patted it and said 'I've got something to do it with'."

She says she never removed the weapon from her pocket. But her relatives and the man who was inside the home, 27-year old Marty Poole, tell a different story.

"She walked in and pulled out the gun," says Poole. "I was pretty shocked because it's not everyday an 85-year old woman points a gun at you."

He says he had not even spent the night at the home, having just arrived that morning. Poole is friends with Walker's great-niece, 22-year old Annie Firebaugh. She says not only did Walker pull out the gun, she also threatened to shoot them.

"(Poole) wasn't saying anything, and she said 'Don't you see this gun in my hand? I'll shoot you," says Firebaugh. "And then she told me she would bash me in the head with the gun and shoot me, too, if I didn't shut my mouth."

Walker's sister also told deputies Walker pulled out the gun. Firebaugh says the responding deputy asked her if she wanted to have her great aunt arrested. She said yes. Walker says she is innocent and says she will fight the charges.

Click on the video tab above to see Chris Cato's interviews with Walker and Firebaugh.