Global Courant 2023-04-17 23:42:03
Authorities have arrested a man suspected of killing a reserve police officer from Eastern Oregon.
The Malheur County District Attorney’s office confirmed Monday morning that the suspect in the Saturday night shooting of Officer Joseph Johnson has been arrested in connection with the shooting.
Johnson, a 43-year-old reserve officer with the Nyssa Police Department, died Saturday night after a man he was chasing in a car shot at him. The man fled and Johnson was dead when sheriff’s officers and medical personnel arrived.
Malheur County District Attorney David Goldthorpe said the shooting occurred after Johnson responded to a report of a violent individual damaging property and threatening people in a home. When he arrived, people at the house told Johnson that the suspect left in a car, after which Johnson chased the man through the area, Goldthorpe said.
The suspect eventually stopped and began firing, Goldthorpe said, hitting Johnson while he was still in his car and before he had time to return fire or defend himself.
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Law enforcement searched for the suspect all weekend, and the Nyssa School District told parents students were allowed to stay home if they wanted to and that schools would adjust security procedures and breaks during the search “out of an abundance of caution.”
It was not immediately known whether the suspect engaged a lawyer. He has not been charged.
Authorities have arrested a man suspected of killing a reserve police officer from Eastern Oregon.
Nyssa, with a population of 3,200, is near the Idaho state line about 50 miles northwest of Boise.
Oregon Governor Tina Kotek ordered flags at public institutions to be flown at half-mast until sunset Monday in Johnson’s honor.
“This is an absolute tragedy,” she said in a statement. “Officer Johnson’s service and dedication to his community and our state will not be forgotten.”
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Johnson is survived by a wife and two children.
Nyssa Police Chief Don Ballou wrote in a Facebook post that the department worked closely with the Oregon Fallen Badge Foundation to provide assistance to Johnson’s family. He said the shooting “sent a shock wave through our loving community”.
“I have no words to describe a loss of this magnitude; the loss of one of Nyssa’s best, most devoted and humblest servants, Reserve Corporal Joseph Johnson,” he wrote.
