The shooting of two Alabama lawmakers stunned the community and those who know the two injured government officials.
Brad Johnson, 32, had served in the sheriff’s office for just over seven years. He is married and the father of two daughters.
His father, Stephen Johnson, said his son had been shot in the head.
The deputy was pronounced dead at 3:18 p.m. Thursday at UAB Hospital and was undergoing an organ donation process, Bibb County District Attorney Michael Jackson said.
Chris Poole, a 30-year-old husband and father, has been released from UAB Hospital and is recovering at home.
“Please continue to remember Deputy Brad Johnson’s family in your prayers, as they are still with him in the hospital and he is undergoing recent trials to continue saving lives,” said Bib County Emotional Sheriff Jody Wade.
“They said the coward died with a thousand deaths, but only one hero,” the sheriff said. “Brad Johnson was a hero.”
Austin Patrick Hall, a 26-year-old convicted felon, is being held at Shelby County Jail. Jackson said Hall would be charged with two counts of fatal murder – one for killing a police officer and one for shooting a vehicle that resulted in death – and attempted murder for injuring Poole.
Hall will be charged Friday morning in Bib County.
Stephen Johnson posted a picture of his son in the hospital on Thursday afternoon and wrote this:
“It’s the hardest thing I had to do. This is the son who called me just hours before to ask me to help him find a good place for a beach. A son who loved to play the guitar, go fishing, four-wheelers and much more. This is not the way your day should end. Blue line forever. “
“The community is just shocked that something like this could happen nearby,” said Centerville Mayor Mike Oakley. “It’s shock and outrage.”
Both lawmakers, Oakley said, are some of the best law enforcement officers in the county.
“They are friends and leaders of the community,” the mayor said.
“They’re two of the best friends anyone can ask for,” said friend Brittany Russell. “They’re both amazing men.”
Johnson, a former volunteer firefighter, is described as a true soul who serves the community with pride.
“Today is a sad day in our community,” according to a Brierfield Ironworks State Park publication. “We mourn the Johnson family for the loss of a real hero, Brad Johnson.
“Brad has worked as a deputy at our sister park in the past and helped us with special events every year. We have a broken heart. ”
“Not only have we lost a brother, a law enforcement officer,” said AHIC chief Scott MacDonald, “I have lost a friend. I pray for the Johnson family. Rest in the east, brother. We got it from here. ”
Alana Godwin, who previously worked at DHR, said Johnson and Poole often accompany her on case visits.
“I never worried about my safety with them because I knew they were the type to protect me, no matter how much it cost,” Godwin wrote on Facebook.
“Even though I’m not an officer, I felt a certain camaraderie, and I always smiled when I was in trouble, and I called Chris because he said, ‘I have your six.'”
“They both became dear friends with whom I still have conversations after I left the department,” Godwin wrote. “Brad has always been a perfect gentleman and came to help me pick up the garbage soon after a mental health fair.”
“We talked about his engagement and he shone,” she wrote. “We always discussed our children. Chris was the only colleague who showed up at my mother’s funeral, which means more than words can say.
Poole, the father of a son and daughter, previously served as Bib County Dispatcher and Bib County Prison Correction Officer before becoming deputy and later investigating.
Earlier this month, he became the first deputy from Bib County to graduate from the National Institute of Computer Forensics. “He’s so smart and we’re so proud of him,” Russell said.
Poole is also praised for his devotion to the community.
“The CAC had the honor and privilege of working with Investigator Chris Poole on many occasions. He is one of the most caring and diligent law enforcement partners we have ever met. “
“He’s not only a great friend, he’s also an amazing father and husband to his children and wife,” Russell said.
“Not only is he a crazy person and he will always make you laugh, he is one of the sweetest and most caring,” she said. “He will give up whatever he does and help in any way he can.
Russell said Poole was determined. “He will not stop until he achieves his goal,” he said.
Mayor Oakley described both employees as community-oriented and family-oriented.
“They would stop at the town hall just to poke their heads out and shoot the bull,” he said.
Johnson, he said, always wore his K9 to school events. “He was the face of the sheriff’s department for students,” he said.
“They are both good people, good people,” the mayor said.
Hall was captured early Thursday about half a mile from the crime scene.
He has been detained at Shelby County Jail and will stand trial – possibly on murder charges – in Bibb County on Friday, District Attorney Michael Jackson said.
Oakley said he and the community are concerned about why Hall, who has been arrested on at least 46 criminal charges since the age of 17, has been released from prison.
“How this criminal was allowed to walk all his life and something like that happened,” the mayor said.
“How can we better identify people with common problems so that something like this doesn’t happen?” Maybe we should do a better job of identifying people whose lives can lead to this. “
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