September 19, 2024
JOPPA, Md. — A local youth football program has been collecting money for the family of Warren Grant, a 15-year-old who died after being shot inside a bathroom by a fellow student at Joppatowne High School on Sept. 6.
The shooting marked the first gun-related death linked to a school in the Harford County Public School system. Joppatowne Recreation Council President Daniel Jahn said he was with his wife and daughter at a nearby preschool when he first caught a glimpse of the emergency response, not knowing that the ambulances were on their way to aid a student who once belonged to his program.
“My wife and daughter worked down at the preschool where the emergency loading zone was for high school kids,” Jahn told Harford Lifestyle. “We were trying to figure out what was going on, and then I’m hearing ‘shots fired, shots fired,’ and the police kicked off running.”
Jahn, as president of the town’s rec council, found himself faced with a tough decision later that evening. An 8U football game was scheduled at Copenhaver Park in Joppa later that night, so the rec council’s executive board had to consider their options.
“Everybody said, ‘yeah, the community needs something to try and bring them back together, somewhere to blow off a little steam,’” Jahn said. “Some people, you know, grieve in private, and other people prefer to grieve with others. So we decided to have the game.”
While setting up the concession stand that night, one volunteer unboxed an empty tip jar, and rather than following the usual routine of setting it outside the window for tips, she suggested that the jar be used for donations that would be given to the Grant family.
Jahn said the donation bin racked up $650 in only an hour and a half that Friday evening.
According to Jahn, other recreation councils have also contributed toward their funds. He received a $500 check from the Fallston Rec Council, and multiple donations from other rec councils in the Upper Chesapeake Youth Football League (UCYFL).
“It literally fell into place. But that’s the way we’ve always been up here,” Jahn said.
And it’s true. This isn’t the first instance that the Joppatowne Seahawks have come together in the wake of losing one of their own. In March 2019, 7-year-old Tripp Johnson was killed when a tractor trailer collided with over 10 cars at the intersection of Route 24 and Ring Factory Road in Bel Air.
Today, stickers that honor Johnson are posted on buildings and light posts around Copenhaver Park. At the park’s entrance, a sign that reads “Tripp Johnson Way” welcomes visitors to the driveway that leads up to the football field, paid for by the Joppatowne Rec Council and Joppatowne Lions Club.
A week after the shooting, before the Seahawks kicked off their first flag and tackle football games on the morning of Sept. 14, Jahn grabbed a microphone and emitted his voice through the two speakers adjacent to the concession stand. He requested that all teams present, including both football and cheerleading groups, assemble around the 50-yard line.
Jahn’s words echoed through the park:
“Eight days ago, a senseless tragedy shook this community—a tragedy that left a young man, Warren Grant, dead. Warren Grant played right here on this field. He was a member of this community. He was a member of the UCYFL. So it affects all of us, not just Harford County, Baltimore County, Cecil County—but the entire state.”
“You see out here in center field, all these young men and young ladies, so precious. Life cannot be replaced. No parent should ever have to bury their child, and unfortunately, we have a parent in our community who has to bury their child. They need help, this family needs help with funeral services and arrangements, and so here at the concession stand we’ve got donation boxes.”
After giving his announcement, Jahn asked the parents and players to bow their heads in prayer. Soon after, the opening whistles blew, commencing the start of the six-and-under flag and tackle football games on their respective halves of the field.
Not even 15 minutes passed before a $100 bill graced the top of the donation box, mixed in with what had already become a sizeable collection of donations.
“Already today, I’ve had people in this program who I haven’t seen in five, six, maybe seven years, roll up this morning,” Jahn said. “This has literally just blown up, and it was nobody’s mastermind. Every single one of us put something into it, and we just made it happen.”
Those who wish to donate to Warren Grant’s family don’t need to be physically present at Copenhaver Park to make a donation. The Joppatowne Rec Council created a website for those who would like to donate online, and the site will be open through the duration of the season, according to Vice President Stephanie Smith.
The Joppatowne Seahawks play on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Copenhaver Park, and the donation bins can be found in the concession stand’s windows.