Court documents shed more light on Olney shooting

By DERRICK PERKINS

For the Hungry Horse News

The Olney woman arrested for shooting her husband last week and her recovering spouse offered investigators differing versions of the events leading up to the gunfire, according to newly filed court documents. 

Kay Lynn Johnson, 64, faces a single felony count of assault with a weapon after deputies with the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office arrested her during an investigation of the Sept. 23 shooting. She remains in the county jail with bail set at $100,000. 

The Sheriff’s Office announced her arrest in a press release on the same day as the shooting. At the time, authorities said only that a woman, identified as Johnson, allegedly shot a man in the stomach during a disturbance and that he was receiving medical care after escaping to a neighbor’s home. 

An affidavit filed by Deputy County Attorney Amy Kenison in Flathead County District Court late last week outlined both accounts. The document notes that deputies first headed to the scene after Johnson told 911 dispatchers she shot her husband as he beat her. 

Arriving deputies found Johnson’s husband in the driver’s seat of his pickup with pressure being applied to a wound on his abdomen, the affidavit read. Though deputies described him as mumbling, they reported hearing him say, “She shot me,” according to the affidavit. 

Other deputies met with Johnson on her property and reported that she sported swelling and bruising on her cheek and above her eye, according to the affidavit. She received medical care prior to meeting with detectives, court documents said. 

In her version of events, she and her husband were arguing about real estate. Johnson described him as angry and recalled grabbing the rifle when his back was turned, according to court documents. 

Turning around, he walked toward her, grabbed the rifle and pulled it, she told detectives. Her finger was still on the trigger and the weapon went off, she said, according to court documents. 

As Johnson went to call 911, she said he tackled her and began hitting her, according to the affidavit. She also allegedly said she was angry and hoped wielding the gun would scare her husband into changing his mind. 

Detectives later interviewed her husband as he awaited surgery. Describing the couple as going through a divorce, he said he was in his shop when he turned around to see Johnson pointing a gun at him, according to the affidavit. 

She allegedly fired one round into his stomach, he told investigators. Despite the wound, he struggled with her for the gun, which went off a second time, according to the affidavit. After allegedly punching her in the head and jaw, and putting his knee on her head, he recovered the weapon. 

At that point, he remembered running to his truck, dumping the weapon into the bed of the pickup and driving to a neighbor’s home in search of help, according to the affidavit. 

Johnson is expected in court for her arraignment before Judge Robert Allison on Oct. 10. She faces up to 20 years behind bars and a fine of $50,000 if convicted of assault with a weapon.