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UPDATE: Former cop now faces 4 counts of attempted murder

Posted: April 10, 2012 - 2:55pm

The former Juneau police lieutenant who opened fire on police officers Saturday evening was charged with three additional counts of first-degree attempted murder Tuesday, according to new charging documents.

Troy A. Wilson, 45, now faces a total of 15 felony charges. Four of those are for attempting to murder four different Juneau police officers — his former coworkers — by firing a rifle at them.

District Attorney David Brower also charged Wilson with three additional counts of third-degree assault and another count of second-degree weapons misconduct.

Wilson was arrested early Sunday morning following a five-hour shooting spree Saturday evening. Prosecutors say the former SWAT instructor barricaded himself in his house and fired about 75 to 100 shots. He used night vision devices to help him aim at police officers, charging documents state.

Police said no one was injured during the incident.

With eyes cast down and head bowed, Wilson made for his first public court appearance Tuesday. He wore a orange prisoner’s jumpsuit.

Not once did he appear to look upward to meet to eyes of the judge, the two uniformed Juneau police officers in the back of the courtroom or the four women — who refused to be identified — sitting in the first two front rows.

The only time Wilson raised his gaze was to ask a question to his newly hired defense attorney, Julie Willoughby, who sat to his left at the defendant’s table.

The 17-year JPD veteran was arraigned Sunday by a magistrate judge. That judge set bail at $500,000 cash per the state’s request.

On Tuesday, District Attorney David Brower asked the judge to raise bail to $1 million cash.

“Judge, the initial information was filed Sunday morning after initially contacting Juneau police,” Brower said. “Upon further review of the evidence and further investigation and interviews, the state has added the additional charges and the additional information. And we’re asking that the bail be increased to a million dollars — $500,000 appearance and $500,000 performance, along with third-party custodian. The allegations are extremely serious and the statements are made extremely serious.”

Charging documents show that Wilson vowed to “kill the world” during the rampage. He also threatened “to hunt down and kill” Juneau Police Department Chief Greg Browning, Assistant Chief Paige Decker, Capt. Ed Mercer and Investigator Kim Horn who tried to negotiate with him by phone throughout the standoff, according to an updated affidavit filed by Brower.

Haines Magistrate Judge John Hutchins, who was filling in for Juneau District Court Judge Thomas Nave, granted Brower’s bail request after Willoughby reserved their bail order.

“I think the state’s request is appropriate,” based on the nature of the offense and the danger presented to the community and victims, Hutchins said.

Brower also requested a blanket condition of release that requires Wilson be prohibited from contacting any Juneau Police Department officers, in addition to those listed in the criminal complaint, should Wilson post bail.

Willoughby objected, saying Wilson should only be prohibited from initiating contact with any JPD officers. She didn’t object to her client being prohibited from contacting any of the officers specifically listed in the complaint.

The judge agreed with Willoughby and allowed that condition of release to be amended.

The nine-minute hearing ended with Wilson shuffling out of the courtroom with Willoughby by his side. He was escorted by an armed court security officer.

Wilson is next scheduled to appear in court later this month on April 20 for a preliminary hearing.

Officers had responded to Wilson’s house of Black Wolf Way around 10:15 p.m. Saturday night when they received a 911 phone call from his wife. Wilson’s wife, only identified as “J.W.” in court papers, told police her husband was suicidal and had a gun.

The shooting began sometime after that, though it’s not immediately clear when. Some neighbors previously told the Empire they did not hear shots until later in the evening.

Brower alleges Wilson, who was wearing an armored vest, attempted to murder officers Lee Phelps, Darin Schultz, Brandon Lawrenson and Krag Campbell.

Phelps was stationed behind some trees behind Wilson’s house, and heard bullets hitting all around him, Brower wrote.

A bullet hole was later found in a tree behind where Phelps was stationed, the affidavit states.

Schultz was positioned across the street from Wilson’s house between a truck and a shed that were about 10 to 15 feet apart. Wilson began firing multiple rounds at Schultz’s direction “at a close enough distance that Officer Shultz could hear the rounds whizzing by his head,” Brower wrote. Three rounds were ultimately recovered by the shed, Brower said.
Schultz was also one of the first officers who arrived on scene. He quickly exited his patrol vehicle that was later found with about eight bullet holes in it, according to the document.

Lawrenson was stationed with Krag Campbell between a house and a 24-foot boat across the street. Wilson began shooting at their location, and Campbell reported hearing bullets “zipping by” his head, the affidavit states.

“Based on the direction from which the rounds were fired, Investigator (Paul) Hatch assessed that Wilson had to move from the downstairs area of his residence to the upstairs in order to fire in the direction of Investigators Lawrenson and Campbell,” the affidavit states. “Wilson also stated to the crisis negotiation team that he could see officers across the street from his house and that he intended to shoot them.”

The three new assault charges are for allegedly placing Officers Brian Dallas, Dominic Branson and Lt. David Campbell in fear of imminent serious injury. The three officers were stationed approximately five houses down from Wilson’s house and around the corner.

Wilson fired shots in their direction, and the rounds were skipping off the roadway about 20 to 50 feet away from them, Brower wrote.

“Each of the officers was in fear that they would be injured by the ricochetting rounds,” and moved their position further away, Brower said.

Wilson resigned from JPD in December as he was being investigated for off-duty behavior that allegedly violated police policy and procedure, JPD spokeswoman Cindee Brown-Mills told the Empire on Monday.

The subject of that investigation has not been released, though Brown-Mills said it was associated with a psychological condition.

• Contact reporter Emily Russo Miller at 523-2263 or at emily.miller@juneauempire.com.

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Latitude58
14419
Points
Latitude58 04/10/12 - 04:04 pm
3
8

Yup, Art

Probably a lifetime member.

snagger
8268
Points
snagger 04/10/12 - 04:26 pm
6
0

Really!

This nut can be bailed out? What a court system!

frog spear fisherman
-4
Points
frog spear fisherman 04/10/12 - 04:26 pm
6
7

gez

Gez you guys give it a rest now with the snide comments, let history be and let it heal! do you citizens live for drama?

NorthIslander
248
Points
NorthIslander 04/10/12 - 04:48 pm
4
0

Hmm

Pushed around and bullied in the department? I've heard my fair share of stories.

Jo MacNamara
697
Points
Jo MacNamara 04/10/12 - 04:43 pm
7
6

He should be held without bail.

This all appears to be premeditated. He wanted to kill cops. What a better way, than to have cops arrive conveniently to your house. Lots of 'em. Saves him the trouble of looking for them each individually.

This is sad all around; for JPD, for his family, his neighbors, everyone.

However, someone this dangerous should be held without bail.

All it would take would be a millionaire friend or relative to bail him out. Then what're the odds he could find a gun and more ammo?

It's sad. Let's not make it sadder. Keep him in jail please.

123456
50
Points
123456 04/10/12 - 06:17 pm
2
4

n/a

n/a

snagger
8268
Points
snagger 04/10/12 - 07:29 pm
3
2

123456

What were you folks doing before this happened, praying? Why didn't you take some action? (The comment I replied to was deleted by 123456)

oneortheother
0
Points
oneortheother 04/10/12 - 06:50 pm
5
0

So we should just give him a warning?

Grim - are you suggesting that he not be charged with anything? The fact that he may have been intentionally "missing" his alleged targets is grounds for him to walk away scott free? Who needs to remove their head from the dark spot? This guy committed a serious offense, and his level of training should not be grounds for defense. Sorry, but his being mentally unstable does not excuse his actions.

snagger
8268
Points
snagger 04/10/12 - 07:48 pm
2
2

Not guilty by reason of insanity------

I think this will be the excuse for his actions. It's hard to believe that he had the premeditated specific intent to justify murder charges. The DA seems a bit overreactive.

Latitude58
14419
Points
Latitude58 04/10/12 - 07:58 pm
6
5

Grim

How drunk was this sniper instructor? Either he was too drunk to hit his targets, or he was drunkly shooting close to them to scare them. I fail to see much difference.

And I'm not blaming the NRA. Just pointing out that the gun worshipers have an affinity with the organization. When I was a kid growing up the NRA taught gun safety and responsible gun ownership. I was a member for years. Then they turned into this extremist political group advocating for nut cases to have ready access to night vision scopes and body armor. I'm no longer a member.

J. E. Fume
5005
Points
J. E. Fume 04/10/12 - 09:57 pm
1
2

Somebody out there please do

Somebody out there please do us all a favor. Get really drunk and play "Call to Action" or some other shoot-'em-up game and tell us if you were able to nail your targets as well as you usually do. That way we'll be able to gauge whether or not the perp in this was just shooting high and blowing off steam or if he missed because he was too bombed to hit his targets.

caryos
29
Points
caryos 04/10/12 - 08:33 pm
7
2

Yep!

Unpublished

that dude's cheese has slid off his cracker.

MadDog
49
Points
MadDog 04/10/12 - 09:40 pm
0
1

following this story is like following a ping-pong ball

The harder you try the more ridiculous you look.

jnu65
-2
Points
jnu65 04/10/12 - 10:26 pm
6
1

Really?

Johnny bg, that is the most ridiculous thing I've heard yet. For you to even say that outloud is beyond reason. Were you not taught to use you "inside" voice? Do you even know his wife? I seriously doubt it. You make me proud that me and my fellow serviceman fought so you can even put down stupid thoughts.. Way to go douche!!! You stupid remarks like that effect not only "JW" but her children also.

jnu65
-2
Points
jnu65 04/10/12 - 10:26 pm
2
0

Really?

Johnny bg, that is the most ridiculous thing I've heard yet. For you to even say that outloud is beyond reason. Were you not taught to use you "inside" voice? Do you even know his wife? I seriously doubt it. You make me proud that me and my fellow serviceman fought so you can even put down stupid thoughts.. Way to go douche!!! You stupid remarks like that effect not only "JW" but her children also.

Jo MacNamara
697
Points
Jo MacNamara 04/11/12 - 04:20 am
4
1

Please act like adults

Some of the comments in here are so juvenile.

Please, grow up. This affects the whole community.

Taku 2
684
Points
Taku 2 04/11/12 - 12:56 am
2
5

Charge the Chief by Grimm

I have to FULLY AGREE with Grimm on this one......

If Troy Wilson had really wanted to shoot any of his fellow officers I am sure he could have hit any target he chose to hit.

It would seem that he was hoping he might be taken out by one of his fellow officers.

I must commend the Swat Team for not ending the situation by using force.

Next the D A will probably want to file a charge for each shell casing he finds.......

Only about a dozen bullet holes found out of 75 -100 rounds fired indicates Troy must have been shooting into the air and didn't try to hit anybody...

Big_Dee
-1
Points
Big_Dee 04/11/12 - 04:02 am
2
6

What Really Saved Troy's Life?

What saved Troy's life was a combination of this: All the good things that he did for this community and the fact he is so respected and highly trained in SWAT tactics. There was no other rational decision JPD could make at that point. 1) No hostages. 2) If you go in, breach the house, he is certainly going to kill one or more people. 3) You are forced to kill him. I don't know about you but, that's not an ending I would have forced under most any circumstance. The hail of gun fire is unfortunate. Take that away and this story would have stayed within JPD and I could have understood and respected that.

If Troy were not a police officer he would have been killed for sure. I'm not that naive and I hope you aren't as well to believe otherwise.

I'm tying to image firing 100 rounds into my neighborhood let alone targeting police officers and living to tell about it. There's just no way any of us would have survived something like that, it would never happen.

My heart goes out to his family and JPD. I can't image being in their shoes right now. I just have no reference point to even come close to understanding.

But there's something else I want you to think about..

Are we missing the bigger picture right now? Are we ignoring the 800 pound brown bear in the room with us? There is no escaping the mental toll law enforcement can take on a person. I don't know of any career police officer that can tell you with a straight face that they aren't profoundly affected by their experiences on the job. The men and women of JPD are human, just like you and me.

Real people dealing with real problems and all of our problems and bad decisions on top of it. Not the kind of job that's easy to "shut off or "escape" when you go home.

Superman and Superwoman are the stuff of comic books so we need to take a moment to think about JPD as a whole and acknowledge just how difficult it must be at times to navigate such a profession.

It's my hope that this experience helps JPD and our community as a whole reach out to others around us that might be carrying a load on their shoulders they need not bear alone.

Thimble
0
Points
Thimble 04/11/12 - 05:40 am
3
1

Oh My Gawd. Everyone needs a Mydol.

99% of the comment-makers here are clueless and their opinions are valueless reference that has to do with the day-to-day lives of Law Enforcement, Tactics, how many lives have been SPARED by Police instead of taking the justified shot, etc. The remaining 1% have a fair idea...maybe.

Who came up with the idiocy of "Opinions are equally valid"? Reading 99% of the comments vs. the 1% is like the TV interview of a Dentist (representing the intelligent 1%)...who has 30 years of experience and the benefit of vast medical research to support his opinions...vs. a heckling audience member (representing the clueless 99%).

The 1% Dentist does NOT have a debate with the 99% Someone who removes their own teeth with string and a door.

isldandhopper
2500
Points
isldandhopper 04/11/12 - 05:51 am
3
0

what if

What if Whitney Houston had, had a life alert pendant?

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