7:44 p.m. UPDATE: Anderson man held in shooting of ex-wife

May 22, 2008 06:44 am

— ANDERSON — An Anderson man shot his 77-year-old ex-wife in the chest Wednesday before summoning authorities to the scene, according to Anderson police.
The victim was pronounced dead less than an hour later.
Donald Johnson, 76, was taken to the jail on suspicion of a single count of murder, according to Joel Sandefur, public information officer for the Anderson Police Department.
“He called Anderson police dispatch at 2:19 p.m., saying he’d just shot his ex-wife, (Fredricka J.) Johnson, and that he still had the gun in his pocket. When APD units arrived on scene at 808 Nichol Ave., officers found the suspect standing outside his residence.
“The suspect was not armed,” Sandefur said. “He was standing out in front of the house waiting for the police to come. He identified himself and told us that he was the one that called.”
Johnson was taken into custody without incident, according to Sandefur.
Two minor children remained inside while Anderson Fire Department paramedics worked to revive the victim, the children’s 77-year-old grandmother.
The children were not harmed in the incident.
Neighbors traded questions on the sidewalks along Nichol Avenue as emergency vehicles filled the street, blocking traffic.
At 2:30 p.m., Donald Johnson was taken from the scene in the back of a patrol car, but neighbors had not yet seen his ex-wife emerge from the residence.
Five minutes later, fire and police officials carried Fredricka Johnson from the two-story home on a yellow stretcher. One emergency responder used his spare hand to perform urgent CPR on the victim’s chest near the gunshot wound.
“They worked on her,” Sandefur explained. “The ambulance came and got her and rendered medical aid until they got to the hospital.”
The woman was rushed to Saint John’s Medical Center, where doctors pronounced her dead at 2:53 p.m.
Early on, police were unable to release the identities of the people involved because family members had not yet been notified.
Fifteen minutes after the ambulance left the scene of the crime, two children emerged from the home holding hands.
Yellow police tape was stretched from the red brick porch and wrapped around a black car, believed to belong to the victim, according to neighbors.
Jennifer Lincoln, who lives just a few homes from where the shooting occurred, said she knew the victim only in passing. “She used to always talk to me when she was bringing her grandkids to school at Robinson (Elementary School).”
The site of the shooting was a short distance from the rear entrance to Robinson. When police blocked Nichol Avenue for the investigation, Robinson Elementary buses were diverted to alternative routes around the increasing police traffic.
Lincoln said she was not familiar with the suspect. “I never seen him outside.”
Around 3 p.m., police detectives cut across the front yards on Nichol Avenue, asking neighbors what they’d seen or heard. Five neighbors interviewed by The Herald Bulletin reported that they had not seen or heard anything unusual until police vehicles arrived on scene. All neighbors except for Lincoln said they preferred not to disclose their names.
“I ran downstairs and saw the police,” Lincoln said, reporting that she did not hear gunshots.
Police had not yet charged Johnson in the shooting, as the investigation was ongoing.
While Johnson did not have a criminal record, Sandefur reported finding an incident in police records. “There was an intimidation (incident) back in 2004, and that’s it. It doesn’t indicate, it just says he was the primary subject in an intimidation in April 2004.”
Further details of the prior arrest were under investigation.
While a specific motive for the shooting was not yet available, Sandefur confirmed that the two were having an argument just prior to the shooting.
“There was some type of disagreement inside the house that led to the shooting between the victim and our suspect,” Sandefur said. “Right now, that’s being investigated to see the circumstances of that argument.”

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