QUESTIONS SURROUND FATAL SHOOTING OF WOMAN, 92

Police Say They Had Made Drug Buy at Home

As a northwest Atlanta neighborhood roiled over news that police had
stormed a house and shot a 92-year-old woman, Atlanta police officials
said Wednesday that cops had made a drug buy at the home and were
returning to search the residence.

Three narcotics investigators were wounded in the Tuesday night
shooting when the home's occupant emptied a six-shot revolver at them.
Police identified the dead woman as Kathryn Johnston. The
investigators were released from the hospital Wednesday morning.

Assistant Police Chief Alan Dreher said a suspect was not arrested
after the buy. He said the suspect's identity is not known, nor is it
known what relationship, if any, the suspect had to the dead woman.

Dreher, in a news conference on Wednesday, said the officers broke
through a burglar bar entry door and then a wooden door. The police,
whom Dreher called "experienced officers," were not wearing uniforms
but had on vests with "police" on the front. He said they were inside
the house when they were shot.

Investigator Gregg Junnier, 40, was shot three times, police said, in
the side of the face, in the leg and in the center of his protective
vest. Investigator Gary Smith, 38, was shot in the left leg, and
Investigator Cary Bond, 38, was shot in the left arm.

"There is going to be a complete investigation," Dreher said. "There
have been no predeterminations made in this case."

He said that "suspected narcotics" were found at the home at 933 Neal
Street, an area west and north of the Georgia Dome known for drug activity.

Dreher handled details of the incident because Chief Richard J.
Pennington was out of town for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said the officers in such
situations "use what they believe is their best intelligence" when
entering a home to make an arrest. "They thought they could enter the
home safely."

"This seems like another tragedy involving drugs," Howard
said.

It was not immediately clear how long Johnston had lived at the Neal
Street home. Neighbors said she lived alone. On Wednesday morning,
they described her as a "good neighbor" and said she was "law abiding."

State Rep. "Able" Mable Thomas (D-Atlanta) called Johnston's death
"unfortunate" and said a number of upset neighbors and other residents
called to say neither Johnston nor her Neal Street home were in any
way connected to illegal drug activity, as police suggested.

"The community does not want to digest that there was a 92-year-old
woman in that house and all of a sudden there's a confrontation with
police and now she's dead," said Thomas, whose district includes the
neighborhood where the shooting occurred. "A confrontation with police
and a 92-year-old woman don't go together."

Police say they followed proper procedures. Thomas hopes they did, but
added: "When you see a 92-year-old being the victim of circumstances
like this, we know something is going wrong."

The Rev. Howard Beckham, head of the English Avenue Neighborhood
Association, said he was shocked at the news of the shooting. The
community where Johnston lived borders the English Avenue
neighborhood. Beckham spent a lot of time in the area as pastor of New
Jerusalem Baptist Church, a few blocks from Neal Street. Johnston's
street, he said, hasn't been considered a trouble spot in terms of
drug activity.

"I'm just concerned as to why they would be knocking on a 92-year-old
lady's door about drugs when there are so many other doors of houses
they could have been knocking on that they are well aware of," Beckham
said.

Atlanta assistant police Chief Alan Dreher, in a news conference
Tuesday night, said the warrant was served at the correct address.
Police still have not released the woman's name.

Sarah C. Dozier said Johnston was her aunt.

Dozier said her aunt worried about crime in the neighborhood where she
had lived for about 17 years, and might have thought the police were
intruders.

"Every window in her home and every door on her home has burglar
bars," said Dozier. "I talked to her the other day about a 72-year-old
who was raped. I know she was just scared."

Dozier said her aunt was healthy and vigorous and lived alone. She
said she talked to her aunt every day and was looking forward to her
annual Thanksgiving dinner at her aunt's home.

Dreher, the assistant police chief, said that as far as he knew the
narcotics officers did "everything by the book. They had a search
warrant, they announced themselves and knocked first." He said he did
not know what name was on the warrant. The woman was the only person
in the home at the time, he said.

Dreher said the incident is still under investigation and "will be for
days."

He declined to say how many shots were fired and what kind of gun the
woman had. Dozier said her aunt owned a pistol and she had a permit.
"I don't know what kind and it was rusty, but apparently it was
working well," she said.

A neighbor, Yolanda Jackson, 42, said she was sitting on the front
porch of her home on Joseph E. Lowery Boulevard a block away when
undercover narcotics officers, who were not in street uniforms, showed
up around 7 p.m. to serve the warrant at Johnston's home, at 933 Neal
St.

"I heard 'pow, pow, pow, pow,' " said Jackson. "A whole lot of
gunfire, really fast." She estimated the number of shots at between 16
and 24. She said within five minutes, "about 20" police cars swarmed
into the area.

A few minutes later, ambulances showed up and a helicopter was
hovering over the neighborhood, which is an intown mix of dilapidated
and well-kept homes, houses being refurbished and a few new infill
houses. By 8:15 p.m. police had Neal Street blocked off from the
corner of Joseph Lowery as investigators went in and out of the home
bringing out bags of evidence, according to neighbors, and TV news
crews set up street shots.

The shooting came on the same day that the district attorney in
neighboring DeKalb County announced she would ask for a grand jury to
review police department investigations of 12 deadly police shootings
there this year. Some of Johnston's neighbors made the connection.

"The same thing is happening here as is going on in DeKalb County,"
said neighbor Tony Torrance. "Police are shooting people. They aren't
following procedure."

Atlanta police declined to say what they were searching for when they
went to Johnston's home. Dozier said she plans to hire a lawyer to
find out what really happened.

"As far as I'm concerned, they shot her down like a
dog."

Local activist Markell Hutchins asked area churches that have services
Wednesday night to send their congregations to Johnston's house at
8:30 p.m. for a prayer vigil.