Profile of a Hero: Stephen Tyrone Johns
Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on June 11, 2009
Officer Stephen Tyrone Johns gave his life protecting visitors at the Holocaust Museum from a deranged shooter
(Writer’s note: At the time this post was written, early news accounts cited the heroism of Stephen Tyrone Johns in defending and protecting the people in the Holocaust Museum. As days passed and more information became available, it was determined that Johns was mortally shot early on, so was unable to perform the acts the early reports cited. I’ve debated about removing or revising this essay in the light of this new information, but have decided to let it remain, with just this preface. Johns’ heroism may be in question in some people’s eyes, but not in mine. Had he not been shot mortally, having found out the kind of courageous man that he was, I have no doubt that he would have performed the acts of heroism that the other guards at the museum did. He died in the line of duty at the Holocaust Museum. If this bothers any readers, and they feel compelled to write that Johns was not a hero, you are entitled to your opinion, but I will not consider posting them. I choose to let this post remain as it originally appeared as a tribute to Off. Stephen T. Johns and his family. Thank you.)
From Cassy Fiano:
Colleagues called Stephen T. Johns “Big John,” for he was well over 6 feet tall. But mostly friends recalled the security guard’s constant courtesy and friendliness.
Stephen Tyrone Johns is a hero. He selflessly defended innocent people yesterday, defended them from a hate-filled madman with a shotgun, a man who inexplicably hated so many people: blacks, Jews, Christians, Republican leaders. A bitter, venom-spewing man who went on a homicidal rampage to kill innocent people, including children.
Had Johns not taken such valiant steps as quickly as he did, more lives would have been lost at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC.
Bio snippet from Michelle Malkin’s post today, Stephen Tyrone Johns: Guard, father, hero:
“A soft-spoken, gentle giant,” said Milton Talley, a former employee of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, where Johns was killed yesterday in the line of duty — shot, authorities said, by an avowed white supremacist who entered the museum with a rifle.
…”Immediately upon entering the front doors of the museum, he raised the rifle and started shooting,” D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier said of von Brunn, 88, adding that he “was engaged by security guards, and there was an exchange of gunfire.”
When the smoke cleared, von Brunn was critically wounded. The only casualty among the guards was Johns, who lived in Prince George’s County. At least one bullet from a small-caliber rifle hit Johns in his upper-left torso, according to Johns’s employer, the Wackenhut security company.
“Two other . . . armed security officers opened fire with their service revolvers,” the company said. “The intruder was hit at once” and wounded.
Johns died at George Washington University Hospital.
“There are no words to express our grief and shock over these events,” the museum said in a statement, describing Johns as “an outstanding colleague who greeted us every day with a smile.”
A good and brave man died yesterday. May he rest in peace. Our prayers are with his family and friends.
Thank you, Stephen. So many owe their lives to you. God bless you.
Additional reading:
CNN: Officers recall horror of Holocaust Memorial Museum shooting
DCist: Stephen Tyrone Johns, 39, Dies in Holocaust Museum Shooting
Hot Air: White supremacist kills guard at Holocaust Museum
What’s Wrong with the World: Anti-Christian White Supremacist Shoots Three People at Holocaust Museum
Mirror on America: Stephen Tyrone Johns- MURDERED at the Holocaust Memorial Museum by a Domestic Terrorist
The American Spectator: ‘The Socialism of Fools’: Jew-Hating and the Externalization of Inadequacy
Gateway Pundit: Crazed Holocaust Museum Killer… Hates Bush, McCain, Neocons
Matthew Vadum, The American Spectator: The Left Won’t Let This Shooting Go to Waste
All American Blogger: Shooter in DC Museum Murder was a Convicted Felon, So How’d He Get a Gun?
Sister Toldjah: Leftwingnuttia commences after anti-Semitic lunatic kills guard at Holocaust Museum
Michelle Malkin: Inconvenient truths: Holocaust Museum shooter hated Fox News, Murdoch; Weekly Standard possible target and The DHS “right-wing extremism” report and the Holocaust shooter
This ain’t Hell, but you can see it from here: Vindication
Legal Insurrection: Taking Advantage of The Holocaust Museum Shooting
American Free Press: Discussion of Holocaust to Be Banned?
The Jawa Report: Two Shot at D.C. Holocaust Museum [Update: Shooter White Supremacist]
Mudville Gazette: “Told Ya So” – 89 year-old shooter “confirms DHS report”
About the author
Comments