Report: Army took away gun from Dallas cop shooter
The man who ambushed and killed five police officers in downtown Dallas had a gun confiscated from him by an army supervisor two years ago, a new report revealed.
The U.S. Army released more documents on Wednesday on Micah Johnson's military service.
In 2014, Johnson was accused of sexually harassing a fellow soldier and stealing her underwear.
A supervisor had to separate the two at one point during a dispute.
In his own handwriting, Jonhnson tried to explain away the stolen panties found during a search of his room. He insisted the underwear didn't belong to the victim, but rather another female he couldn't name.
Those new details are helping shed light on the conduct and character of the man responsible for the downtown Dallas ambush on law enforcement July 7.
In written statements, Army supervisors report that Johnson ran from them when confronted about the women's underwear. They wrote that he ran away to toss at least four pairs in a dumpster, where they were later recovered.
Supervisors noted they took Johnson's handgun and knife away and during the sexual harassment and theft investigation.
Commanders also had Johnson escorted from his forward operating base, where the victim and the rest of their platoon was assigned, and taken to Bagram Airfield.
The just released information included photos of a grenade round found by soldiers who were packing up Johnson's room. They also found a bag of prescription medication belonging to another solider, who says he didn't give it to Johnson.
The Army explained Johnson would have had no reason to be in possession of an explosive device, especially in barracks where other soldiers sleep.
The report was completed in May 2014, and the final recommendations were redacted. But we do know Johnson was not immediately discharged, in spite of concerns spelled out by the Army itself.
An Army official told FOX 4 in a statement:
"His weapon was taken simply out of an abundance of caution. He did not appear agitated, or threaten himself or others. It was an unusual event for the company and an action taken through an analytical Command decision, rather than any perceived threat."
Johnson was later released from active duty with an honorable service rating. The army has been investigating how that decision was made.
You can read the full report below. Mobile users can click here.
(function() { var scribd = document.createElement("script"); scribd.type = "text/javascript"; scribd.async = true; scribd.src = "https://www.scribd.com/javascripts/embed_code/inject.js"; var s = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(scribd, s); })();