Mark Johnson

Deadly force

At about 5 a.m., a resident in an apartment complex called the Montpelier Police Department to report that a man with a knife had attempted to enter his residence before leaving the area. Two responding Montpelier police officers saw Mark Johnson running away from the apartment complex and reportedly carrying what appeared to be a handgun. Johnson made it to a bridge and police reportedly spent minutes trying to de-escalate the situation. Officers ordered Johnson to drop the gun. Johnson allegedly raised the pistol in the direction of the officers, one of whom shot and killed Johnson. It turned out that the black pistol was actually a pellet gun.