Kathryn Johnston shooting

Kathryn Johnston
Johnston circa 2000–2006
Born	(1914-06-26)June 26, 1914 Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Died	November 21, 2006(2006-11-21) (aged 92) Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.

Kathryn Johnston (June 26, 1914 – November 21, 2006) was an elderly Atlanta, Georgia, woman who was shot by undercover police officers in her home on Neal Street in northwest Atlanta on November 21, 2006, where she had lived for 17 years. Three officers had entered her home in what was later described as a 'botched' drug raid. Officers cut off burglar bars and broke down her door using a no-knock warrant. Police said Johnston fired at them and they fired in response; she fired one shot out the door over the officers' heads and they fired 39 shots, five or six of which hit her. None of the officers were injured by her gunfire, but Johnston was killed by the officers. Police injuries were later attributed to "friendly fire" from each other's weapons.

One of the officers planted marijuana in Johnston's house after the shooting. Later investigations found that the paperwork stating that drugs present at Johnston's house, which had been the basis for the raid, had been falsified. The officers later admitted to having lied when they submitted cocaine as evidence claiming that they had bought it at Johnston's house. Three officers were tried for manslaughter and other charges surrounding falsification and were sentenced to ten, six, and five years.

The officers, dressed in plainclothes, approached the house at about seven in the evening. Officers Jason R. Smith, Gregg Junnier, and Arthur Tesler, who were wearing bulletproof vests and carrying riot shields when they entered the home, announced themselves after opening the door but before entering the house, according to police. Johnston fired a gun after police forced open the door. It was later determined that Johnston fired one shot from an old pistol, and that none of the officers were hit by that bullet. The police officers fired a total of 39 shots, five or six of which hit Johnston. Police injuries sustained in the raid were from bullets not fired from Johnston's gun. The officers were hit in the arm, thigh, and shoulder respectively; they were treated at a hospital.

Prosecutors later said that Smith handcuffed Johnston as she was dying. Johnston was pronounced dead at the scene. Prosecutors accused one of the officers of planting three bags of marijuana in the house as an attempted cover-up after no drugs were found in the house. Smith later admitted to having planted the drugs. They had been found in an unrelated case earlier that day. Prosecutors also accused Smith of calling Alex White after the shooting and telling the informant to say he had bought crack cocaine at Johnston's house. According to court filings, before talking to the homicide detective, the three officers involved in the shooting got together to get their stories straight.