Police: Man accused in officer's death didn't want to go back to prison
For the Daily Record/Sunday News
Carroll Valley Borough police chief Richard Hileman, left, and Pa. State Police Trooper Bryan Henneman investigate at the hunting camp on Ortanna Road where Christopher Johnson was taken into custody for the fatal shooting of a Game Commision officer. (DAILY RECORD/SUNDAY NEWS--JASON PLOTKIN)
A 27-year-old Adams County man told police he opened fire on a state wildlife conservation officer Thursday night because he is a convicted felon and did not want to go back to prison for illegally possessing a firearm, according to court documents.
After a nightlong manhunt, Christopher Lynn Johnson was in police custody by 9:40 a.m. Friday, and later that night was in Adams County Prison without bail on criminal homicide and other charges in connection with the killing of Officer David Grove, 31, of Fairfield.
Adams County District Attorney Shawn Wagner said he will prosecute Johnson for first-degree murder and that he intends to seek the death penalty.
"I can assure you that here in Adams County, if an individual intentionally
kills a law-enforcement officer in the line of duty, we will seek the death penalty," Wagner said.
Police said Johnson used a .45-caliber handgun to shoot Grove while being detained on suspicion of poaching deer in Freedom Township, southwest of Gettysburg, about 10:30 Thursday night.
At a news conference Friday, state police Commissioner Col. Frank Pawlowski described the shooting as "a ferocious exchange of gunfire."
An autopsy determined Grove was shot four times - and died from a gunshot wound to his neck, Adams County Coroner Pat Felix said. Grove returned fire and shot Johnson in the hip, police said.
Johnson was taken to York Hospital for treatment of the wound, police said.
When police interviewed Johnson en route
to the hospital, according to court documents, he was asked if he knew he had shot a police officer. Johnson replied, "No, I thought it was a game warden," according to the documents filed Friday with District Judge Mark D. Beauchat.
Started with a traffic stop
Johnson was spotlighting deer Thursday night with Ryan Laumann, 19, of Fairfield, according to police. Johnson shot a deer with a .22-caliber rifle in the area of Red Rock Road and Schriver Road about
10:30 p.m. when the two saw headlights approaching from behind at a high rate of speed, court documents said.
Robert Criswell, the state Game Commission's southcentral region director, said that, on Friday morning, officers recovered a spike buck believed to be the animal Johnson shot.
Laumann told police he and Johnson were pulled over by someone they thought was a Game Commission officer, according to the documents. Johnson said he wasn't going back to prison and had a .45-caliber pistol on him, the documents state.
The two were ordered out of the truck, and Grove asked Johnson to walk backward toward him, police said.
Laumann heard Johnson say "What's this all about" and heard the sound of handcuffs clicking. He then heard
shouting and a "pop, pop, pop" sound. Laumann said he saw Johnson fire at the officer, according to police.
Holding his right hand to his stomach area, Johnson said "I've been hit," and they fled the scene in the pickup, police said.
Before being shot, Grove had called for backup and radioed in the license plate number of the vehicle, police said.
Adams County 911 dispatched officers to the scene, and Pawlowski said Cumberland Township police were there in two minutes. In that amount of time, Pawlowski said, Johnson had fled and officers found Grove "fatally injured." He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Johnson's capture
Pawlowski said Johnson and the other man parted ways, with Johnson
continuing on foot, injured and limping. Johnson had fled with a handcuff on his right wrist, and he shot it off, according to court documents.
He sought help from a passing motorist, and was taken by car to a hunting cabin in Franklin Township.
What Johnson had no way of knowing at the time, Pawlowski said Friday, was police had been tracking various leads all night long, and officers were stationed at several locations - including that cabin - in case Johnson decided to flee there.
When he arrived at the site, Johnson was taken into custody without incident.
Pawlowski said Grove's license plate information was essential to the investigation.
"It shows how good this officer was," Pawlowski said. "He called in the license
plate number. That was a critical piece of information."
A tragic reminder
Pawlowski said the shooting was the most unfortunate of reminders of the dangers Game Commission officers must face.
They are out on dark roads at night, often confronting armed individuals, Pawlowski said, attempting to keep the woods safe and ensure rules are followed.
"That's the dangerous nature of this kind of work, every single day," he said.
Criswell said Grove loved his job, and was always proud to count himself among the few that make up "the thin green line" out in those dark woods every night. The Pennsylvania Game Commission came into existence in 1895, and in that time only three officers and been killed by a gun in the line of duty, Criswell said.
The last of those was in 1915, he said.
"We're all professionals, and we'll deal with the emotional part of this later," he said. "We all know when we take the oath this is possible."
State police Sgt. Jonathan Mays, commander of the Gettysburg barracks, said law-enforcement officers feel a keen loss every time they lose one of their own.
"Last night, we lost a local law-enforcement hero," Mays said, as the flags in front of the police station fluttered at half-mast. "It's always a very difficult thing."
The charges
Christopher Lynn Johnson, 27, of Ski Run Trail in Carroll Valley, Adams County, was charged Friday afternoon with:
· criminal homicide
· persons not to possess firearms
· flight to avoid apprehension
· firearms not to be carried without license
· possessing instruments of crime
· resisting or interfering with an officer
· unlawful use of lights while hunting
· unlawful killing or taking of big game.
The passenger
Christopher Johnson's passenger, Ryan Laumann, was described by police as a cooperating witness. The affidavit said that Laumann told investigators he left the scene with Johnson without helping Grove and that after a few minutes he repeatedly insisted that Johnson let him out. Johnson stopped the truck and did so, then drove away, Laumann told them.
Laumann's lawyer, Steve Rice, said his client gave police information that may have helped them track down Johnson but that charges could be filed against Laumann.
"I would think that that's possible, but not homicide," Rice said. "I think he understands the gravity of the situation."
About the officer
David L. Grove, 31
Career:
March 2008: Commissioned as a full-time wildlife conservation officer, assigned to the southern district of Adams County
2001-2007: Deputy wildlife conservation officer in Franklin County.
2003-2004: Worked at the Penn State University Deer Research Facility in State College.
Education:
1997: Graduated from Grace Academy, Hagerstown, Md.
1997-1999: Attended Appalachian Bible College, Bradley, W.V.
2004: Graduated from Penn State University with a bachelor's degree in wildlife and fisheries science.
Read more
· View the arrest affidavit and Johnson's criminal history here.
·
Read the state police news release on Christopher Lynn Johnson.
·
Read the game commission news release on the death of conservation officer David L. Grove.
Officer shooting deaths
According to Daily Record/Sunday News archives and the Police Heritage Museum in York, Wildlife Conservation Officer David L. Grove is the only known Adams County officer to have died by gunfire in the line of duty.
In York County, the only officers known to have been shot to death were:
· Henry C. Schaad, 22, a York City Police officer, was shot while riding in an armored truck during the 1969 summer race riots in York. He died from his wounds Aug. 1, 1969.
· Curtis Sowers, 33, a North York police officer and York County deputy sheriff, was shot and killed in 1929 while helping to serve a warrant for cattle rustling on a farm near Lewisberry.
Also:
· Willis Cole, a 30-year-old resident of Fairview Township and an officer with New Cumberland police, was shot and killed after responding to a Cumberland County coin shop robbery in 1994.
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