Ingalls worker vowed to kill coworker before deadly shooting, police say
“I’m about to shoot Tahj Johnson.”
That’s what Curtis “CJ” James Jr. told a friend at Ingalls Shipbuilding the same morning police say he carried out the threat, shooting and killing 27-year-old painter Tahj Johnson.
James, 25, of Mobile, Alabama, is charged with murder in the Aug. 22 killing at Ingalls.
A witness told Pascagoula police she warned James, “You can’t talk like that,” but she didn’t believe he would follow through.
Investigators said James had also sent text messages threatening to “pop off” Johnson — slang for shooting him.
When officers searched James’ car after the attack, they found an AK-15-style assault rifle, which Pascagoula Police Detective Jonathan Blakeney said he believed he may have planned to use if he hadn’t been captured.
Friendship turned deadly at Ingalls
Detective Blakeney testified during a preliminary hearing on Wednesday that the two men had been friends, but their relationship soured after Johnson cut ties. Johnson was upset that James had been making disparaging remarks about Johnson’s girlfriend.
Police say James’ anger escalated in the days before the shooting. Just two days earlier, Johnson’s mother reported that James had fired shots at both her car and her son’s car outside their Prichard, Alabama, home.
Based on the testimony, Pascagoula Municipal Judge Matthew Lachaussee found enough evidence to send the case to a Jackson County grand jury for indictment. He ordered James to remain jailed without bond, agreeing with Pascagoula City Prosecutor Cherie Wade that James has no ties to the area and remains a threat.
The courtroom was packed with relatives and friends of both the alleged shooter and the victim. All declined requests for comment on the case.
Gunfire on Navy ship
Police first learned of the shooting around 7:30 a.m. on Aug. 22, when an Ingalls employee called in an “active shooter” report. Pascagoula police, Jackson County deputies and SWAT officers responded, along with onsite security, which rushed to the scene.
The shooting sent an estimated 8,000 workers into an intense lockdown while authorities combed industrial warehouses and buildings for a suspect.
Investigators said James had reported to his own ship for work, then walked over to Johnson’s ship and confronted him in a hallway.
A witness said an argument started before James pulled a gun and started shooting.
Johnson had 15 gunshot injuries, including close-range shots to his head and face, and died at the scene.
The arrest
The search ended for the suspect when workers in another multipurpose building on site noticed a man out of uniform—without a hard hat or coveralls—trying to blend in. They alerted police, who found James nearby and arrested him.
Officers later recovered parts of the 9 mm Glock used in the attack, hidden under a sub shack building near at a ship at the shipyard. Nearby, they found James’ phone, which contained more threats against Johnson.
At James’ home in Mobile, investigators found a gun case with a serial number matching the serial number on the weapon recovered at the scene and believed to be the murder weapon, Blakeney said.
