The Juneau police officer who shot and killed a resident wielding a hatchet last year will not face criminal charges.
The state’s Office of Special Prosecutions released a statement Wednesday that cleared Officer Jonah Hennings-Booth in the Christmas morning shooting of 30-year-old Raye Johnston.
Two other officers were present during the incident but did not fire their weapons.
The fatal shooting took place in the parking lot of the Mendenhall Valley Breeze In convenience store. According to the Juneau Police Department, the officers were responding to an emergency call because Johnston was allegedly yelling and threatening people with a hatchet.
The statement from the Office of Special Prosecutions says Johnston did not comply with officers when ordered to put down the weapon and continued to advance toward the officers even after officers used their tasers. Hennings-Booth then shot Johnston, who was pronounced dead at the scene.
In its review of the incident, the state found Hennings-Booth was “legally justified in his use of deadly force” against Johnston.
Johnston’s death was the second shooting fatality involving police in Juneau last year. In July, police shot and killed 35-year-old Steven Kissack downtown. Months later, the Office of Special Prosecutions determined the shooting was justified and cleared all officers involved of any criminal charges.
Since 2009, there have been more than 150 police shootings in Alaska. No officers involved have been charged with a crime.
In the days after the shooting, Deputy Police Chief Krag Campbell said the department planned to release police body camera footage to the public, but did not say at the time when that would happen.Campbell said in a text message Wednesday that they plan to release body camera footage on Thursday evening.
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