A southern Minnesota resident is charged with pointing a gun at two young sisters and threatening to shoot them if they didn't stay off his lawn.
Police say southern Minnesota resident points gun at 2 kids, says stay off his lawn
He was arrested after a standoff with police.
August 14, 2018 at 10:42PM
Scott D. Johnston, 59, of North Mankato, was charged Monday in Nicollet County District Court with second-degree assault and making terroristic threats in connection with the incident Friday outside his home in the 200 block of Cross Street.
Johnston said Tuesday that the accusations against him are "totally false" and that he was sound asleep while officers surrounded his home before his arrest. "I swear to God I did not do this."
The 9-year-old told police that she and her 8-year-old sister were in their own backyard when Johnston aimed a "sniper rifle" at them and threatened to "shoot them if they didn't stop playing on his lawn," the charging document read.
The girls ran and told their parents what happened, the charges continued.
Police arrived and waited outside for nearly 4 hours before Johnston was arrested shortly before midnight Friday.
In a jailhouse interview, Johnston told police that he had come out of the house to have a cigarette when he saw two children he described as boys running through his yard and told them not to do that.
He said he couldn't remember anything else from that evening, explaining that he "had a good buzz going" from drinking, the charges continued.
Police recovered a shotgun from the home. Johnston said the weapon was his and he keeps it loaded under his bed, according to the criminal complaint.
Johnston told the Star Tribune Tuesday that he recalls confronting two boys that evening but nothing else because he had about five mugs of beer "at my favorite watering hole" earlier in the day and went to sleep wearing earplugs.
"I'm sleeping in La-La Land," Johnston said, explaining why police outside the home couldn't rouse him for hours.
He said that it was only when police shined bright lights toward his bedroom that he woke up and surrendered.
Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482
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