Man shot by Decatur police officer in Morgan County Jail after recovery

Oct. 21—The man who Decatur police say was shot by an officer on Oct. 4 at Westmeade Pharmacy was released from Huntsville Hospital on Wednesday evening and is now being held in Morgan County Jail on $21,000 bail.

According to police, the officer on Oct. 4 responded to a report that Twanski O'Neal Johnson, 26, of Tuscaloosa, was attempting to commit a controlled substance crime and the shooting occurred when Johnson assaulted the officer.

According to an affidavit filed Thursday by Decatur police Detective Joshua Daniell, Johnson was attempting to use a fraudulent prescription to pick up a narcotic when the officer arrived at the pharmacy and attempted to detain him.

Johnson, according to the affidavit, beat the officer with closed fists and picked him up "off the ground and slammed him to the floor, causing (the officer) to hit his head."

During the assault, Daniell wrote, Johnson unsuccessfully attempted to disarm the officer.

"During the course of the assault, the responding officer discharged his service weapon, striking Johnson one time in the torso," according to a Decatur police statement.

Johnson was transported to Huntsville Hospital where he remained for just over two weeks.

Decatur police charged Johnson with second-degree assault, attempting to disarm a law enforcement officer and attempting to commit a controlled substance crime.

David Duncan, a pharmacist and manager at Westmeade Pharmacy, said Johnson was attempting to fill a prescription submitted electronically to the pharmacy. The pharmacist recognized the prescription as fraudulent and notified authorities. When Johnson arrived to pick up the prescription on Oct. 4, pharmacy staff called 911 and the officer arrived on the scene.

Johnson fought the officer and a struggle ensued, according to Duncan.

"He was a big guy on top of the officer," Duncan said. Johnson was listed in Morgan County court records as 5-foot-9 and 240 pounds.

A local hospital treated the officer's minor injuries and released him on the same day, according to police. He was placed on administrative leave, per department policy. The officer was taken off leave, but he is still on administrative duty and not out in the field. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency is investigating the shooting, as is standard practice with officer-involved shootings.

If he posts the $21,000 bond, Johnson will be turned over to the Tuscaloosa Police Department on an outstanding warrant related to a first-degree robbery charge.

In Tuscaloosa, court records allege Johnson in 2020 robbed a Papa John's Pizza employee during a delivery, pinning her against a wall by her neck while holding a box cutter.

Several days after the robbery and before Johnson's arrest on that charge, according to Tuscaloosa County prosecutors, Johnson attempted to elude police officers by driving on the wrong side of the road and then fleeing on foot. He had possession of marijuana when he was apprehended, according to the Tuscaloosa assistant district attorney in a brief opposing reduction of his $60,000 bond on the robbery charge.

The prosecutor also noted he had three prior felony convictions.

The court declined to reduce the bond, but Johnson bonded out of jail in December 2021.

In May of this year, Tuscaloosa County prosecutors argued Johnson's bond should be revoked because he had violated his bond conditions by committing new criminal offenses — unlawful distribution of a controlled substance and first-degree marijuana possession.

The Tuscaloosa County court revoked his bond in June and issued arrest warrants, which are still pending, when he failed to attend scheduled court appearances. One of the missed court appearances was a week before the incident at Westmeade Pharmacy.

— emma.daniel@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2437. Twitter @DD_EDaniel