Cops Milling About

The End of an 8 Hour Standoff

I had the early morning pleasure of covering a standoff between Fayetteville Police and U.S. Army Spc. Jason Johnson. Luckily I only had to cover the last three hours of it. Nobody was hurt except Johnson, who was shot in the hand. (The news story is posted below the photos).

Johnson is in the 257th Dental Company on Fort Bragg, which only reminded me I needed to make a dental appointment, well that and my throbbing tooth. So I finally made an appointment for my overdue visit to the dentist.

So now I'm dreading tomorrow.










FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — A standoff with an armed Fort Bragg soldier who fired shots at police and barricaded himself in an apartment ended peacefully Tuesday when the man surrendered, a police spokeswoman said.

Fayetteville police spokeswoman Theresa Chance said authorities expect to file charges against Spc. Jason N. Johnson, 24, a dental specialist from Savannah. He was taken to Cape Fear Valley Medical Center for treatment of a gunshot wound to his left hand, she said.

Chance said the incident began in the early morning hours as a domestic issue that did not involve Johnson's wife. Friends were concerned about Johnson and called police.

He entered the apartment of a deployed soldier and barricaded himself in the bathroom, she said. Authorities weren't certain if Johnson, who lives in the same apartment complex, knew that soldier.

Fort Bragg spokesman Tom McCollum said Johnson is assigned to the 257th Dental Company, which is part of the 44th Medical Command. It's a field unit that deploys and is not assigned to a specific hospital or clinic, but Johnson has never deployed overseas, McCollum said.

Cops on a Wire

This shot reminds of a shot that every photographer has probably taken, which is of a row of birds resting on a wire with one other bird flying across the frame.