The Associated Press
BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A former gang member charged with shooting a police officer laughed and bragged about it when he was arrested at the scene, another officer testified.
Nikolaus Johnson, 26, made his first court appearance on Tuesday, and his case was sent to the grand jury.
Johnson is charged with first-degree murder in the Nov. 27 death of Bristol Police officer Mark Vance, who was shot in the face while responding to a domestic violence call.
Police Lt. Eric Senter testified he was outside the house where Vance was shot and apprehended Johnson when he ran outside after the shooting.
“I asked him, ‘Who did you shoot?’ Senter said. “He said, ‘I shot the (expletive) cop. I shot him in the face, and he’s dead.’ And he laughed.”
Prosecutors say Johnson, who also is a convicted felon, shot Vance from about 2 feet away with a .357 Magnum pistol.
“I asked him why,” the lieutenant said. “He said he didn’t call the police, and he didn’t want them there.”
Vance was the city’s first officer to be shot to death on duty since 1926.
Vance was responding to a 911 call from a homeowner who said a man was threatening his teenage daughters with a gun.
Senter arrived a few minutes after Vance.
“The door was open,” the lieutenant testified. “As I got closer to the door, I saw from my left to right a hand come out and a gun. I saw the gun and heard the gun go off. It reminded me of a 6-inch barrel, an old West type gun.”
Johnson showed up at the house with two guns after one of the girls, Brittany Mitchell, called him to say she was pregnant with his child.
“He said whoever got there first, he was going to kill them, my father or the police,” Brittany’s sister, Tiffany Mitchell, testified.
Tiffany Mitchell met Vance at the door and told him at first that nothing was wrong. Then she told Vance that Johnson had a gun.
Vance went inside and ran up the stairs to the living room, where Johnson was waiting with his gun in hand, she said.
“The officer didn’t really get to say nothing,” Tiffany Mitchell testified. “It was that fast. He turned around. (Johnson) shot him in the forehead. I remember when the officer fell. There was blood running down his face.”
During the hearing, Johnson smiled, laughed and at times nodded to his mother who was sitting behind him. He stretched and yawned after the hearing as he headed back to jail.
Johnson remained jailed with bond set at $500,000.