Wreck Suspect Commits Suicide-By-Cop On Body Cam

By Bob Owens

Is this a lethal-force threat? Could the threat seriously injure or kill me, or someone else? Do I have any other options?

These are the questions that (should) run rapid-fire through your mind if faced with a lethal threat as Officer Spencer Mortensen did in August of 2013 when responding to an apartment where the suspect of a car accident had fled.

The suspect’s girlfriend warned Officer Mortensen that Eric Byron Johnston was hiding in the back of the apartment and that he was armed with knives. Officer Mortensen removed her from the house, but it sounds clear that she never went further that onto the front porch.

Mortensen told Johnston that it was just an accident, and it wasn’t worth whatever Johnston was considering doing. When Johnston remained unresponsive, Mortensen began pieing the main room, and then saw Johnston in the kitchen, wielding two knives.

Johnston slowly advanced upon Officer Mortensen as Mortensen ordered him to drop the knives. Mortensen side-stepped back to the front door, but the suspect’s girlfriend was on the porch. Mortensen was effective boxed in.

Officer Mortensen called out eight times for Johnston to drop the knife, and finally opened fire when …read more

Source:: Bearing Arms