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He had nothing to lose, plotting to kill as many of the officers as he could with a plan to lure them to him by first killing a group of local teenagers.
The Kingsford, Mich., man gunned down three teens July 31 as they relaxed near the Menominee River on the Wisconsin-Michigan border, prosecutors said Wednesday.
“His plan was to shoot anyone who showed up to help,” Marinette County district attorney Brent DeBord said.
But Johnson, 38, apparently reconsidered his plan after shooting the youths, a criminal complaint stated.
After an all-night manhunt for him, Johnson surrendered to authorities, even disabling his military-type rifle in a way that would be obvious to them, DeBord said.
Johnson was charged Wednesday with three counts of first-degree intentional homicide. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison if convicted.
The criminal complaint tells a chilling story of a disaffected man who had thought about committing a random shooting for four or five years. Johnson even stashed weapons in the woods at least a year ago in preparation, the complaint said.
“He stated that the sole purpose of his hiding this equipment was for when a day like this came,” DeBord said.
The spark that set off the shooting was a sexual assault that Johnson allegedly confessed to police. Johnson lured the 24-year-old woman near the bridge on the evening of July 30 and attacked her, later trying to talk her out of calling police.
Johnson considered going home afterward but decided to wait there and kill any law enforcement officials who arrived to investigate, the complaint said. When none did, he spent the night in the woods and returned home the next morning.
Johnson has not been charged with sexual assault but more charges could still be filed, DeBord said at a brief news conference where he declined to take questions.
Johnson’s public defender, Len Kachinsky, said he plans to hold his first meeting with Johnson before a court hearing today. Kachinsky said he could not comment on the case before then.
“I think people should maintain an open mind and withhold judgment until the evidence is in,” he said.
The complaint gives the following account:
The day after the alleged sexual assault, his mother told him police were looking for him. Expecting to go to jail and fearing the label of sex offender, he decided “he had nothing to lose and the only power he had in this life was ’to take.“’
He returned to the bridge, where he counted eight teenagers. He recovered his hidden Armalite 7.62 mm military-type rifle and an ammunition box with .308 cartridges that he had stowed at least a year before.
He found a hill on the Wisconsin side where he could shoot. He planned to wait until the youths were back on the Michigan side and shoot them as “bait” to lure law enforcers he could then also shoot.
But he was startled when four of the teens began to climb toward him, instead of taking the path he expected. When the teens approached, he felt trapped and jumped up, firing about 17 shots. He saw people fall as he began to reload but decided not to fire again.
Johnson spent the night in the woods and turned himself in the next morning as officials were undertaking an intensive manhunt.
“Before exiting the woods, he disabled the firearm in a way so that law enforcement could see that the gun was disabled,” DeBord said.
Two teens, Tiffany Pohlson, 17, and Anthony Spigarelli, 18, died instantly from single shots to the head. The third, Bryan Mort, 19, died of a shot to the torso. A 20-year-old man suffered superficial shrapnel wounds. All four were from Michigan.
The location of the wounds suggested all four were fleeing, said Scott Celello, undersheriff for Dickinson County, Mich.
Johnson’s mother, Judy Johnson, had said her son was honorably discharged from the Army in 1994 without serving overseas and has been unemployed. She described him as despondent since his wife took left him in 2001 and took their two children with her. She said she worried he might “do something stupid.”
DeBord is handling the case because the shots were fired from the Wisconsin side. Michigan authorities are still investigating and could file additional charges, he said.
Christopher Ninomiya, the Dickinson County district attorney, did not immediately return a message left Wednesday seeking comment.
