Kathryn Johnston
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Kathryn Johnston | |
|---|---|
 Johnston circa 2000-2006
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| Born | 1918 Atlanta, Georgia |
| Died | November 21, 2006 Atlanta, Georgia |
Kathryn Johnston (c. 1918 - November 21, 2006) was an 88-year-old Atlanta, Georgia woman shot by three undercover police in her home on Neal Street in northwest Atlanta on November 21, 2006 where she had lived for 17 years.[1] She opened fire on the officers after they pried off burglar bars and broke down her door using a no knock warrant. None of the officers received life-threatening injuries, but Johnston was killed by the officers.[2][3][4]
Officers Gary Smith (b. 1968), Gregg Junnier (b. 1966), and Cary Bond (b. 1968), were wearing bulletproof vests and carrying riot shields when they were shot. [5]
The Atlanta Police Department initially claimed that the police were searching for drug dealers after a police informant was said to have bought crack cocaine at Johnston's home earlier in the day. The eight narcotics officers involved were then placed on paid leave, and it was announced that federal investigators would be brought in to probe the matter. News reports originally said that Johnston was 92 years old, but the coroner later confirmed her true age as 88. [6]
In the affidavit police used to obtain a search warrant for Johnston's house, Atlanta, Georgia narcotics officers alleged their informant bought drugs inside Johnston's home earlier in the day from a man named "Sam", and that the home had video surveillance equipment justifying the no knock warrant. In an interview with Atlanta television station WAGA a few days after Johnston's shooting, the informant denied having gone to her house and said that after the shooting, the police pressured him to lie and say he had.[6]
According to WSB-TV in Atlanta, Detective Junnier has told the FBI that some of the information used to obtain the search warrant on Johnston's home was false.[7]
On February 7, 2007, it was announced that Georgia's district attorney will seek felony murder and burglary indictments against the three agents involved.[8] The Rev. Markel Hutchins, acting as spokesman for Johnston's family, said her family members were "stunned and disappointed" by the announcement of the indictments because they believe it will disrupt a larger federal investigation of civil rights violations by the Atlanta Police Department.[9]
[edit] References
- ^ Johnston had a niece, Sarah C. Dozier.
- ^ "After Atlanta raid tragedy, new scrutiny of police tactics.", Christian Science Monitor, November 29, 2006. Retrieved on February 14, 2007. “Kathryn Johnston, neighbors say, was scared. Drug activity had moved down from the seedy "Bluff" neighborhood in northwest Atlanta onto her street. In the past year, she put up burglar bars and installed extra locks. At some point, she had gotten herself a gun. But in a case that is raising increasing questions about police conduct and the use of "no-knock" warrants, the octogenarian Ms. Johnston ended up using the gun on police, rather than hood-wearing thugs. Last Tuesday, a team of police, who were conducting a "no-knock raid" in search of a drug dealer, burst into her home. Johnston opened fire. Three officers were wounded. Johnston was killed.”
- ^ "Police Kill Woman, 92, In Shootout at Her Home.", New York Times, November 23, 2006. Retrieved on February 14, 2007. “Police officers said they expected to arrest a man who had illegal drugs when they forced open the front door of a house in one of this city's most crime-ridden neighborhoods on Tuesday night. Instead, they found a 92-year-old woman holding a revolver. The woman, Kathryn Johnston, who neighbors said still did her own cooking and cleaning and had a "good, sharp" mind, was killed, and three narcotics investigators were hit in the face, chest, arm and legs during a shootout after officers knocked open the door. Exactly what led to Ms. Johnston's shooting has become the subject of a highly charged investigation. In a news conference Wednesday, Assistant Chief Alan J. Dreher of the Atlanta Police Department said his officers had returned fire after Ms. Johnston shot three of them.”
- ^ "Tapes Detail Shootout With Elderly Woman.", Associated Press, December 1, 2006. Retrieved on February 14, 2007. “Police officers urgently called for medical help and additional personnel seconds after an elderly woman was killed in a shootout with narcotics officers, according to recordings of police radio traffic obtained by The Associated Press on Friday. Three officers serving a search warrant were wounded Nov. 21 as they returned from fire Kathryn Johnston. "Elderly female on the location ... with a handgun," an officer is heard reporting on about 40 minutes of police radio recordings released by the Atlanta Police Department.”
- ^ "Atlanta Officers Suspended in Inquiry on Killing in Raid.", The New York Times, November 28, 2006. Retrieved on February 14, 2007. “The police chief placed all eight members of a narcotics investigation team on leave Monday after a confidential informant said they had asked him to lie during the investigation of the death of an 88-year-old woman, shot and killed by police officers during a drug raid last Tuesday. Chief Richard J. Pennington said the Federal Bureau of Investigation would investigate the death of the woman, Kathryn Johnston, who was killed after she fired at three officers who breached the door of her small house, with its green shutters and a wheelchair ramp. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is also examining the case.”
- ^ a b "Police shooting of elderly woman leads to federal probe.", CNN. Retrieved on February 14, 2007.
- ^ "Conflicting Information On Johnston Shooting Case.", WSB-TV. Retrieved on February 14, 2007.
- ^ The State of Georgia v. Gregg Junnier, et al.
- ^ Brenda Goodman. "Family of Police Shooting Victim Protests Prosecutor’s Actions", New York Times, February 9, 2007. “A plan by the district attorney to seek murder charges against three narcotics officers involved in the shooting death of an elderly woman during a bungled drug raid may jeopardize a broad, federal investigation into civil rights violations by the Atlanta Police Department, a spokesman for the victim's family said Thursday.”
