Polson man faces murder charge in death of father

Charges against a Polson man suspected in the shooting death of his father were filed Thursday in Flathead County.

Ross Elliot Johnson, 20, is charged with one count of deliberate homicide, according to the Flathead County Attorney's Office.

Jurisdiction over the case was transferred from Sanders County to Flathead County after GPS mapping revealed the alleged crime scene was inside Flathead County.

Sanders County prosecutors are expected today to dismiss deliberate homicide charges filed there.

Johnson, who was arrested

Sept. 1 after a two-day standoff at his residence outside Polson, is being held in the Sanders County jail. A date for his transfer to the Flathead County Detention Center, where he initially will be held on $500,000 bail, has not been set.

Prosecutors are also expected to request a mental-health evaluation to determine whether Johnson 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 say Ross Johnson fled to Polson after shooting his father, Roger Johnson, on Aug. 30 in the woods 45 miles west of Kalispell.

A couple dirt-biking near Rock Creek Road found Roger Johnson's body and notified authorities. He had been hit once in the head with a shotgun blast.

The father and son reportedly had left the rest of the family, who were camping at a cabin near the U.S. Forest Service's Bend Guard Station, to go gopher hunting.

Investigators tracked Ross Johnson to the family's home on Meadow Vista Way in Polson, where an armed standoff ensued. After negotiations - which sometimes took place as often as every 15 minutes - failed, officers lobbed more than 40 canisters of tear gas into the home.

Johnson still refused to come out, until officers gave him a series of commands via the Missoula County SWAT team's remote-controlled robot. Officers then moved into the home and used a Taser to subdue Johnson, more than 48 hours after the standoff began.

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

Ross Johnson had threatened to kill his father prior to the shooting, according to court records.

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

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