Dorian Johnson, a key witness to the 2014 police shooting of Michael Brown whose account helped galvanize nationwide protests against police brutality, was fatally shot Sunday in Ferguson, Missouri, authorities said.
Police were called to a residential area in Ferguson at about 8:30 a.m. after reports that Johnson, 33, had been shot, local NBC affiliate KSDK reported. He was taken to a hospital and died later that day. St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Melissa Price Smith said the shooting appears to have stemmed from a domestic dispute and that the alleged shooter claimed self-defense. The individual was taken into custody but released when no charges were filed after 24 hours, Smith said. "The investigation remains active," she said. "The Ferguson Police Department is engaged in ongoing consultation with the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office regarding possible criminal charges. We will announce any charging decisions made regarding this matter of evident public interest."
Johnson came to national attention after he was walking with Michael Brown near the Canfield Green Apartments on Aug. 9, 2014, when they were confronted by Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson. Johnson has long maintained that Brown surrendered with his hands up and said, "Don't shoot," before being fatally shot by Wilson. A Department of Justice review later found that Brown and Wilson had tussled through the window of Wilson’s police vehicle before Brown fled; the DOJ report and other accounts noted discrepancies in eyewitness statements. Wilson and other witnesses whom the Justice Department found credible said Brown had turned and was moving toward Wilson; Wilson said he feared for his safety and fired 10 shots. Brown was unarmed.
Brown’s death and the subsequent decision by a grand jury three months later not to indict Wilson touched off days of protests and a wider national debate over police tactics, racial bias and the militarization of law enforcement. The chant "Hands up, don't shoot," drawn from Johnson’s account of the encounter, became a rallying cry at demonstrations across the United States and intensified calls for policing reforms focused on community relations and greater accountability.
In the months and years after the Brown shooting, Johnson said he faced sustained public attention and pressure. Reporters who spoke with him a year later said he had been staying in various hotels with his then-girlfriend and their baby daughter; by 2015, Johnson had four children, according to those accounts.
Smith’s office said investigators are continuing to examine the circumstances of Johnson’s death. Authorities have not announced any charges related to Sunday’s shooting. Ferguson police and the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office did not immediately provide additional details about the alleged shooter’s identity, the nature of the domestic dispute referenced by Smith, or whether any evidence contradicted the claim of self-defense.
Johnson’s death marks a renewed point of attention in Ferguson, the St. Louis suburb that became a focal point of national conversations about race, policing and justice after Brown’s death. Officials said they would release further information as the inquiry proceeds.