Story Highlights
• 92-year-old woman shot dead in Atlanta home by
police
• Police were serving search warrant for drugs at
slain woman's home
• Police say she opened fire, wounding three
officers who survived
• Neighbors say woman lived in crime-ridden
neighborhood; family outraged
ATLANTA, Georgia (AP)
-- Many people on the run-down northwest Atlanta street
where Kathryn Johnston lived fortify their windows with
metal bars and arm themselves for protection.
Johnston, 92, was no
exception.
Alone in her home, she was
waiting with her gun on Tuesday night when a group of
plainclothes officers with a warrant knocked down her door
in a search for drugs, police said.
She opened fire, wounding
three officers, before being shot to death, police said. (Watch
niece's fury at police shooting 
)
Assistant Police Chief Alan
Dreher called the killing "tragic and unfortunate"
but said the officers were justified in returning fire.
"You don't know who's in
the house until you open that door," Dreher said
Wednesday. "And once they forced open the door, they
were immediately fired upon."
The Rev. Markel Hutchins, a
civil rights activist and spokesman for Johnston's family,
said he could understand why the elderly woman would arm
herself.
"She was afraid,"
Hutchins said. "This is a horrifying situation in a
neighborhood where crime happens often. This incident is a
result of a mix-up."
The officers had gone to the
old woman's house with a search warrant after buying drugs
there from a man known only as Sam, police said. (Watch
what police and family say about the shooting -- 2:53 )
Police issued a "John
Doe" warrant on Wednesday for the arrest of Sam,
believed to be in his early to mid 30s, who allegedly sold
the drugs to the undercover agent.
Dreher would not say how the
dealer knew Johnston.
Investigators also said they
found drugs in the home after Johnston was killed.
Officer Joe Cobb, a police
spokesman, said the type of drug involved would not be
disclosed until it was verified by the crime lab.
District Attorney Paul Howard
said his office is looking into the shooting but that a
preliminary review indicated the officers had a right to
search the home.
Crime and drugs are a part of
the landscape in the rough neighborhood where Johnston
lived, and her neighbors said they do what it takes to
protect themselves.
"It's the roughest
neighborhood in Georgia," said 56-year-old Allen Pernel,
who lives a few blocks from Johnston's home. "If she
thought somebody was coming into her house, she did what any
of us would have done."
Al Harley, a 50-year-old
homeless man who hangs out in front of a neighborhood
convenience store, said residents follow a sort of credo:
"Don't let anyone disrespect your door."
The police chief said the
officers had identified themselves and then forced open the
door of Johnson's house where she had lived for 17 years.
Investigator Gary Smith, 38,
was shot in the leg and Investigator Cary Bond, 38, was
struck in the arm.
Investigator Gregg Junnier,
40, was hit in the leg, the face and his bulletproof vest.
They were taken to the hospital and are expected to recover.
Johnston had no children and
her closest relative was a 75-year-old niece, neighbors
said.
"She hardly came outside
her home," said Tameka Walker, 28, who lives behind
Johnston's house and used to visit her. "She's not a
92-year-old grouchy old woman you think she was. She's a
very nice person."
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2006 The Associated
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