Trooper Corporal Kenneth J. Johnson

[MrJim911]

Cause of Death: Gunfire
End of Watch: July 07, 2002
Date of Incident: July 07, 2002
Age: 38 Tour of Duty: 12 yrs
Suspect Info: Shot and wounded
Weapon Used: Handgun

Corporal Johnson was shot and killed while conducting a holiday-weekend public safety checkpoint in Berkeley County at 0215 hours. He and other troopers were positioned on College Park Road between I-26 and US 17A and had stopped a pickup truck. As a trooper wrote the female driver a ticket for containing an open container Corporal Johnson walked around the back of the truck to check the identity of the male passenger. As he did so, the man jumped out of the truck and opened fire, striking Corporal Johnson in the abdomen just below his vest.
As the man attempted to flee the other troopers returned fire, wounding him, and took him into custody. The man was an escapee from a Charleston County work release detail. The female driver of the truck was charged with possession of a stolen vehicle.

Corporal Johnson had been with the agency for 12 years and is survived by his wife and two children.

[MacLeod]

Truly a sad day. We hear these stories all the time. Guys, make sure that freaking vest is on, and fits properly!!!!

This link takes you to the Death Announcement of another SC Trooper, Cpl. Kenneth Johnson. The story makes reference to another Trooper, Mike Rao, who died less than a month ago. Mike's sister was a good friend of mine in HS. I knew Mike vaguely. Keep these Troopers' families in your prayers. and check your vest. If it doesn't fit properly, make your chain of command aware of the deficiency. They may not get you one right away, but telling them about it is the FIRST step.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the hardest working men and women in LE are the boys and girls in BLUE. Overworked and underpaid, and under appreciated by too many Americans.

http://www.scdps.org/oea/nr2002/070702.htm

[MacLeod]

I'm from SC and I have a good friend that is still with SCHP. I got some insight from him on Tuesday about the incident. The reason Cpl. Johnson was killed was because some scumbag shot him, but a contributing factor is that the bullet went in just below his vest.

Please guys, check that vest!!! Make sure it fits properly!!! I went on a warrant the other day and several agents were putting on their raid vest with little regard to whether or not it was snugged up on the sides and secured properly. I asked another agent to snug me up on the sides, and some of the older, wiser agents rolled their eyes. Don't be intimidated by those that think the vest isn't worth the trouble.