[Vision2020] I guess it was Troy's turn

[Dan Carscallen]

>From today's Trib, thanks Dave Johnson:

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Shooting claims life of Troy man
Sheriff's office starts homicide probe

By David Johnson of the Tribune

Sunday, July 1, 2007


TROY - Shock, befuddlement and rumors permeated this Latah County town
Saturday after a shooting incident took the life of 23-year-old Jeremiah
Johnson and a juvenile male was wounded.

Latah County Prosecutor William Thompson Jr. said a homicide
investigation is under way and an autopsy on Johnson will be conducted
within a few days. A number of people told the Lewiston Tribune several
versions of what may have happened, but no one offered a first-hand
account.

Thompson declined to speculate about circumstances surrounding the
shooting but said the investigation is aimed at finding evidence of
anything criminal. People who live near the scene told the Tribune they
heard nothing and knew nothing about the incident until emergency
vehicles suddenly appeared in the early morning hours.

Latah County Sheriff's Office deputies, Troy ambulance crews, Moscow
police and Idaho State Police responded to the report of a shooting on
West Fourth Street. Johnson was found dead at the scene, according to a
news release, and the second male was found wounded nearby. He was taken
to Gritman Medical Center and later transferred by helicopter to
Kootenai Medical Center in Coeur d'Alene.

Although the identity of the wounded male had become common street
knowledge here by Saturday afternoon, Thompson refused to confirm a name
because the male is a juvenile. A spokeswoman for Kootenai Medical
Center also refused to confirm the name or give the condition of the
patient.

Johnson and the juvenile male were graduates of Troy High School and
played athletics at the school, according Lewiston Tribune news stories.

Johnson, according to authorities, suffered a single fatal gunshot wound
to the head. The shooting happened shortly before 3:30 a.m., according
to a Latah County Sheriff's Office news release. Thompson confirmed the
two males were thought to be the only ones involved in the incident and
no shooter was at large. No information on the type or number of weapons
involved was available.

Johnson's death marks the seventh shooting fatality in Latah County in
four months. University of Idaho student David Boss was killed in March,
allegedly by a childhood friend who's been charged with murder. In May,
Jason Hamilton killed his wife, Crystal Hamilton, Moscow Police Officer
Lee Newbill and church caretaker Paul Bauer before turning a rifle on
himself. And less than two weeks ago, 25-year-old Tyler Lee of Moscow
died of gunshot wounds near Genesee. James Curtis Leonard, 23, has been
charged with voluntary manslaughter in that shooting and was recently
released on $10,000 bond, according to his attorney.