New details emerge in fatal shooting by deputy at Biloxi courthouse. What report says
A Harrison County sheriff’s deputy shot and killed a Biloxi man shortly after police first got a report about someone spitting on vehicles, according to an incident report provided to the Sun Herald in response to public records requests.
The complaint came in to the Biloxi Police Department at 3:47 p.m. on Jan. 15.
The “complainant” told Biloxi police the suspect — now believed to be 48-year-old Reginald Johnson — was spitting on vehicles in the parking lot of the Harrison County courthouse on Lameuse Street, the report says.
In the minutes that followed, a Harrison County deputy shot and killed Johnson in the parking lot on the west side of the courthouse.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation — the independent agency investigating the case — said the shooting happened in the aftermath of the initial call after Johnson charged at the deputy with a knife.
The Biloxi police incident report described the initial complaint as a suspicious circumstance.
The Sun Herald requested an incident report on the fatal shooting from the Harrison County Sheriff’s Office as well, but county attorney Tim Holleman said last week the report had not been completed because the deputy involved had been recovering at home from stab wounds.
The Sun Herald has not yet received that report.
The Johnson family wants authorities to release video footage of the shooting so they can get a clear understanding of what happened in the final moments of Johnson’s life.
Johnson’s sister, Deaundra West, had more questions Wednesday after the Sun Herald told her about the call that came in to Biloxi police just prior to her brother’s death.
“When stuff just doesn’t make sense, it doesn’t make sense.” she said. “The story just keeps changing. If you mishandled a case, you mishandled it. Just say that. I can go to bed peacefully if you just say you mishandled the situation. It happens sometimes. But don’t let him go down like that — it’s emotional.”
The deputy, according to a statement from MBI, shot Johnson after he “displayed a knife and began to advance on the deputy.”
At the scene, the deputy could be seen sitting up on a gurney, being wheeled away from the courthouse.
Mississippi’s public records law allows law enforcement to withhold almost all information relating to a the investigation of a case, other than incident reports, which may be heavily redacted. That means MBI, the Harrison County Sheriff’s Office and the Biloxi Police Department can cite the exemption to deny all public records requests for footage and documents during an ongoing investigation.
But the law doesn’t require them to withhold that information.
The law reads: “a law enforcement agency, in its discretion, may choose to make public all or any part of any investigative report.”
If a grand jury has made a ruling on a case and found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing, however, the information is public record.
The Johnson family questioned why law enforcement didn’t contact them shortly after the shooting.
It wasn’t until this week that Johnson’s family said a law enforcement agency, in this case, MBI, reached out to the family to let them know the agency is handling the investigation.
Harrison County Coroner Brian Switzer said Johnson died of multiple gunshot wounds.
The Johnson family plans to hire an attorney to help the family find out exactly what happened the day of the fatal shooting.
