Shaun Johnson, a 35-year-old White male, was shot and killed by a Kearny police officer late on May 8, 2015, outside a residence in the 59700 block of East Bidegain Place in Kearny, Arizona. According to the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office, the confrontation developed after Johnson’s wife contacted police at approximately 11:03 p.m. and reported that her husband had returned to their home. Yelling and screaming could reportedly be heard in the background of the call.
Police said officers had already encountered Johnson earlier that evening after a disturbance at a local bar. When officers responded to the residence, they located Johnson’s wife walking along the street with her children. She told them Johnson was inside the house. The officers then approached the property to investigate the situation.
According to the account released by authorities, Johnson suddenly came out of the residence carrying and swinging a samurai sword.
Officers ordered him to drop the weapon, but police said he did not comply. Johnson instead moved behind the residence, and officers followed him. When they rounded a corner of the house, authorities said Johnson was waiting with the sword raised over his head in what was described as a striking position.
The confrontation had become extremely close-range. Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu said the officer who fired was only about six to eight feet from Johnson and believed he was in immediate danger. The officer discharged his department-issued handgun four times, striking Johnson in the chest. Johnson died at the scene from the gunshot wounds. Public databases documenting law-enforcement deaths also identify the weapon involved in the confrontation as a sword and classify the circumstances as an attack rather than an attempt to flee.
Because a Kearny police officer had fired the fatal shots, the Kearny Police Department requested that the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Bureau conduct the investigation into the shooting. Contemporary reporting described the case as an officer-involved shooting investigation and did not identify the officer who fired by name. The available online reports located for this case do not document the arrest of the officer or another suspect, nor do they report criminal charges, a prosecution, trial, or conviction arising from Johnson’s death.
