Flathead County gets case

A Polson man suspected in the shooting death of his father will be prosecuted in Flathead County, officials said Wednesday.

Jurisdiction over the case was transferred after GPS mapping Wednesday revealed the alleged crime scene was just inside the Flathead County line, not in Sanders County as previously believed.

Ross Elliot Johnson, 20, was arrested Sept. 1 after a two-day standoff at his residence outside Polson. Investigators allege he fled to the home after shooting his father, Roger Johnson, on Aug. 30 in the woods 32 miles north of Thompson Falls.

The Flathead County Sheriff's Office will begin its own investigation into the shooting, re-interviewing witnesses and the suspect, said Undersheriff Pete Wingert.

"If we are to testify to something in court, we need to be firsthand witnesses to it," Wingert said.

Flathead County detectives, however, will ask the Sanders County Sheriff's Office and the Sanders County Attorney's Office to forward any investigative reports, he added.

The single count of deliberate homicide filed against Johnson in Sanders County will most likely be dropped, allowing the Flathead County Attorney's Office to draft its own charges.

According to the Flathead County Attorney's Office, costs incurred by prosecutors in their last large jury trial ran about $50,000.

Paperwork has been filed in Sanders County transferring Ross Johnson to Montana State Hospital in Warm Springs, where he will be evaluated to determine whether or not he is competent to stand trial.

Acquaintances of the Johnson family have said Ross Johnson suffered a head injury about a year ago in a BMX bicycle crash.

Investigators were dispatched to a Plum Creek Timber Co. logging road about 32 miles north of Thompson Falls at 1:50 p.m. on Aug. 30 after a group of motorcyclists found 47-year-old Roger Johnson's body.

He had been shot once with a 12-gauge shotgun, according to Sanders County Sheriff Gene Arnold.

After discovering the body, which was found almost astride the Sanders County-Flathead County line about two miles east of the U.S. Forest Service's Bend Guard Station, the motorcyclists rode until they could get cell phone service and alerted authorities.

Investigators returned to the scene with the motorcyclists, who knew the Johnsons from camping nearby, and interviewed family members.

The Johnson family had been staying at their cabin near the guard station, Arnold said. Family members told investigators Ross Johnson and his father had left to go gopher hunting.

Although there were no eyewitnesses to the shooting, other campers in the area told investigators they heard gunshots. Arnold declined to say how investigators determined Roger Johnson's death was a homicide.

Authorities soon discovered that Ross Johnson, the shotgun he was using to hunt gophers, and his GMC sport utility vehicle were missing, Arnold said.

An all-points bulletin was issued, and deputies from the Lake County Sheriff's Office were dispatched to the Johnsons' home on Meadow Vista Way outside Polson.

Deputies reached the home at about 7 p.m., only minutes after Ross Johnson had arrived, Lake County spokeswoman Carey Cooley said.

Johnson, who was presumed armed, refused to leave the house.

About two dozen people in surrounding homes were evacuated, Cooley said.

The standoff lasted more than two days and involved law enforcement from at least six jurisdictions, including the Lake County Special Response Team, Polson Police Department, Tribal police, Missoula County SWAT team, Flathead County SWAT team, and Kalispell Police Department SWAT team.

Authorities cut power to the home and rigged the telephone so that it would only call out to negotiators, who remained in almost constant communication with Johnson - sometimes calling as often as every 15 minutes.

After negotiations were unsuccessful, authorities lobbed more than 40 canisters of tear gas into the house on the afternoon of Sept. 1.

Johnson still refused to come out, so the Missoula County SWAT team's remote-controlled robot was sent inside. Through the robot, negotiators ordered Johnson to follow a series of commands.

"He responded to that, and at that point they were able to go in and apprehend him peacefully," Cooley said.

Officers moved into the home and used a Taser to subdue Johnson at 7:50 p.m. - more than 48 hours after the standoff began.

No shots were fired and no one was injured during the siege.

In the days after the standoff, authorities searched the Johnson home, recovering "evidence of all kinds," Arnold said. He declined to say whether the shotgun used to kill Roger Johnson was found.

If convicted, Ross Johnson faces as long as 100 years or life in prison. He also could face an additional 10 years for any prison sentence, because a firearm allegedly was used in commission of the crime.

Reporter Nicholas Ledden can be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at nledden@dailyinterlake.com