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Pinal County Sheriff’s Detectives are investigating an officer-involved shooting that proved fatal for a Kearny man.
On Friday, May 8, Kearny Police Department requested the assistance of the PCSO-Criminal Investigations Bureau following a shooting that occurred in the 59700 block of E. Bidegain Pl., Kearny.
According to Tim Gaffney, PCSO Public Information Officer, detectives learned that at 11:03 p.m., a woman called 9-1-1 to report that her husband had returned to their house. The dispatcher reported hearing yelling and screaming in the background. The husband was later identified as Shaun Johnson, 35.
Kearny Police Officers told detectives that they had contacted Johnson earlier in the evening after he had been asked to leave a local bar; he had reportedly been causing a disturbance.
As KPD officers arrived in the neighborhood, they met the woman as she was walking down the street with her children. She told officers that her husband, Johnson, was inside the residence.
According to PCSO, as two KPD officers approached the residence, Johnson charged out at them, swinging a Samurai sword. “The officers gave repeated verbal commands for him to drop the sword,” PCSO Sheriff Paul Babeu said, “but he refused.” Johnson turned and ran behind the residence still carrying the sword. As officers chased after him, they rounded a corner and Johnson was waiting for them with the sword above his head in a striking stance.
“An officer who was 6 to 8 feet away from him feared for his safety and fired four rounds from his department issued handgun, striking Shaun in the chest,” Babeu said. “(He) received emergency medical attention at the scene, but was pronounced deceased.”
The case remains under investigation by PCSO detectives.PCSO Detectives are continuing with the investigation at this time.
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