An 88 year-old no-nonsense liquor store owner from Nashville, Tennessee was arrested after she shot a man who was trying to steal alcohol from her establishment.

May Boyce was arrested last Tuesday for aggravated assault, but she was back at work just four days later on Saturday.

“I did what I had to do, and I hope word gets out on the street that I’m fed up and I’m not taking it anymore,” she told The New York Post from her store. “You’ve got to stick up for yourself sometimes.”

Boyce explained that she has been robbed many times over the years, which has left the 5’3″, 115 pound widow frightened. That’s why she was ready when two men entered her store trying to steal from her last Tuesday evening. When she confronted one of the men for grabbing a couple of Crown Royal whiskey bottles, he allegedly “lunged” at her before running for the exit.

That’s when Boyce grabbed her late mother Mary’s .38 Smith & Wesson and opened fire.

“I did what I had to do,” she said. “After you’ve been played for a fool by people stealin’ from you for years, you get fed up. And don’t put me in the category of a little old lady. I know how to take care of myself.”

Boyce added that she was not completely intending to hit the man, who has since been identified as Ramon Fisher.

“I never shot a gun before,” Boyce said, “but I guess it’s something that comes natural. I aimed at the floor to scare him.”

Carson Burch, a close friend of Boyce’s, took to Facebook to rush to her defense. He explained that she was robbed and assaulted just two months ago in an incident that has forced her to wear a wrist brace ever since.

“She is a sweet old lady who minds her own business. She opens this liquor store up every single day by herself, and she closes it down every night by herself,” Burch wrote. “Now she’s charged with a crime for defending herself? Give me a break.”

Boyce explained that she voluntarily went with police when they came to arrest her.

“I went down, got my mugshot taken, got out on bond and came right back to the store,” she said. “I got some people to help me but it took us to 1 a.m. to clean up all the wine that spilled everywhere.”

Boyce has owned the store since 1994, and despite her advanced age, she still works there six days a week.

“I’m a people person,” she said, “I like to work.”

The only thing that has Boyce upset right now is that police confiscated her gun, with officers telling her that she might not get it back for two years.

“I told ’em, s–t, I might be dead by then,” Boyce said. “But the law’s the law.”

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