Atlanta – Many people on the rundown northwest Atlanta street where Kathryn Johnston lived fortify their windows with metal bars and arm themselves for protection.
Johnston, 92, was no exception.
She was waiting with her gun Tuesday night when a group of plainclothes officers with a warrant knocked down her door in a search for drugs, police said. She opened fire, wounding three officers, before being shot to death, police said.
Assistant Police Chief Alan Dreher called the killing “tragic and unfortunate” but said the officers were justified in returning fire.
“You don’t know who’s in the house until you open that door,” Dreher said . “And once they forced open the door, they were immediately fired upon.”
The Rev. Markel Hutchins, a civil-rights activist and spokesman for Johnston’s family, said he could understand why the elderly woman would arm herself.
“She was afraid,” Hutchins said. “This is a horrifying situation in a neighborhood where crime happens often. This incident is a result of a mix-up.”
The officers had gone to the woman’s house with a search warrant after buying drugs there from a man known only as Sam, police said. Police issued a “John Doe” warrant Wednesday for the arrest of Sam, believed to be in his early to mid-30s, who allegedly sold the drugs to the undercover agent. Dreher would not say how the dealer knew Johnston.
State Court Administrator Stefani Searcy refused to release a copy of the warrant Wednesday. State law considers all such documents public record, but Searcy cited “office policy” as her reason for withholding the warrant.
Investigators said they found drugs in the home after Johnston was killed. Officer Joe Cobb, a police spokesman, said the type of drug involved would not be disclosed until it was verified by the crime lab.
District Attorney Paul How ard said his office is looking into the shooting but that a preliminary review indicates the officers had a right to search the home.
Crime and drugs are a part of the landscape in the rough neighborhood where Johnston lived, and her neighbors said they do what it takes to protect themselves.
Neighbors said Johnston didn’t even take her trash to the street; instead, sanitation workers came to her side door.
Sallie Strickland, who has lived on the street for 51 years, also said the woman lived in fear.
“I’d bring groceries, and she’d say, ‘Set them on the porch,’ ” Strickland said. “Then she’d lock the doors right away.”
“It’s the roughest neighborhood in Georgia,” said 56-year- old Allen Pernel, who lives a few blocks from Johnston’s home. “If she thought somebody was coming into her house, she did what any of us would have done.”
The police chief said the officers had identified themselves and then forced open the door of Johnston’s house of 17 years.
Johnston was alone in her house, police said.
Bullets struck Investigator Gary Smith, 38, in the leg and Investigator Cary Bond, 38, in the arm. Investigator Gregg Junnier, 40, was hit in the leg, the face and his bulletproof vest. They were taken to a hospital and are expected to recover.
Johnston had no children; her closest relative was a 75-year- old niece, neighbors said.
“She hardly came outside her home,” said Tameka Walker, 28, who lives behind Johnston’s house and used to visit her. “She’s not a 92-year-old grouchy old woman you think she was. She’s a very nice person.”
Cox News Service contributed to this report.
