Marriott shooting: New details revealed in killing of Marist parent at Poughkeepsie hotel
Roy Johnson allegedly cursed and yelled and tried to get behind the front desk before firing numerous rounds inside and outside the lobby of the Town of Poughkeepsie Courtyard by Marriott on Oct. 2, killing a Marist College parent, according to documents released Tuesday.
Those were among the new details about the shooting that took the life of Paul Kutz that were revealed as the indictments against Johnson and fellow suspect Devin Taylor were released Tuesday.
The indictments indicate Taylor had a room at the Courtyard rented for him by a third party, and details weapons and materials found in his room.
According to the documents, Johnson entered the lobby of the hotel just before 7:30 a.m. armed with a loaded 9mm Glock semi-automatic pistol outfitted with a fixed pin that rendered it fully automatic. He was dressed in an Army green-colored jacket, green boxer-type shorts and a black balaclava over his head and face.
Poughkeepsie:Marist parent fatally shot at hotel
Courtyard shooting:Two men arrested in killing of Marist parent
Roy Johnson:Where accused killer was before Poughkeepsie hotel shooting
Johnson was allegedly cursing and yelling while pacing near the barista bar in the lobby. He then approached the front desk and attempted to go behind it, but the clerk put his arm out to stop him, records show.
Johnson is then accused of moving toward the table seating area and firing the pistol, striking Kutz in the right side of his chest. The bullet perforated the right top lobe of his liver, the lower lobe of both lungs and his aorta, and also struck the seventh rib on his left side before exiting through his back, according to the indictment.
Kutz, a 53-year-old Long Island resident, was dead within minutes, according to the documents. It remains unclear why Kutz was shot. Police said Johnson and Taylor did not know him.
Johnson allegedly continued firing multiple rounds inside the lobby of the Courtyard, then went outside, where he fired about 22 rounds in the parking lot and the entrance way of the hotel property on Route 9. He took off the jacket and balaclava and left them and an electronic detector device in the parking lot, according to the indictment.
Johnson also allegedly removed the magazine from the Glock and placed both on a BMW SUV in the parking lot. He then went back inside the hotel, where he was found and taken into custody by police.
Poughkeepsie shooting:Men indicted in killing of Marist parent
Marist parent shot:What we know about Poughkeepsie hotel shooting
Meanwhile, at about the same time, Taylor was in the courtyard area of the hotel with a loaded Walther P22 pistol when a police officer confronted him and ordered him to get on the ground, according to the indictment. Taylor allegedly began to comply, but then ran off and went in and out of the hotel through various doors, with the officer in pursuit.
The officer lost sight of Taylor for about 30 seconds, but then he emerged from a row of bushes, approached the officer and finally complied with her commands to get on the ground, according to the documents.
The documents indicate Taylor's room at the Courtyard was rented for two nights, beginning on Oct. 1.
Taylor is accused of possessing numerous weapons and ammunition in that room, including an AR-15-style rifle with no serial number; three magazines with rounds; assorted ammunition; three improvised munitions handbooks; a guitar case retrofitted to hold the AR-15-style rifle; a bag containing two rifle bolts and rifle rail system; rifle parts; a firearm bi-pod; a firearm scope; knife and sheath; flash bang grenade; and smoke bomb.
Johnson, 35, was indicted for one count of second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, all felonies.
Taylor, 26, was indicted for two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and one count of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, both felonies.
They are scheduled to be arraigned Friday before Dutchess County Court Judge Edward T. McLoughlin.
Previous Holiday Inn problem
Before staying at the Courtyard by Marriott, Johnson and Taylor tried to stay at the Holiday Inn a few miles south on Route 9, said Imane Barrett, the Holiday Inn's general manager. She said her staff would not let the men stay there, which she did not elaborate on, and that caused a problem.
According to records from Town of Poughkeepsie police, officers responded to a call at the Holiday Inn at 12:40 p.m. on Oct. 1 for a man yelling at an employee at the front desk.
The man left before police arrived. Police would not confirm that Johnson and Taylor were involved in that incident.
Records show the hotel caller told police the man who was yelling at an employee may have been using drugs or alcohol, the man was "acting very aggressively towards staff" and is was "more than yelling."
The man who was yelling was not a registered guest at the hotel but was possibly staying in a room there, records show. Police knocked on two rooms that he may have been staying in, but there was no answer at either room, records show.
Mike Randall covers breaking news for the Poughkeepsie Journal, Times Herald-Record and The Journal News/lohud. Reach him at mrandall@gannett.com or on Twitter @MikeRandall845.
This article originally appeared on Poughkeepsie Journal: Poughkeepsie hotel shooting: New details in Marist parent's killing
