A Juneau Police Department officer has been cleared of any wrongdoing in the shooting death of a woman on Christmas Day last year.
According to a press release, the department received a letter from the State of Alaska Department of Law’s Office of Special Prosecutions this week regarding the officer-involved shooting of Ashley Rae Johnston that occurred on December 25, 2024, on Trout Street.
The investigation concluded that the officer was legally justified in his use of deadly force during the incident. The State of Alaska has declined to pursue criminal charges in relation to the use of deadly force.
Video footage from the shooting has been released by the department. Three of the videos released are from the body-worn cameras of JPD officers who were on scene. One body-worn camera was activated multiple times, creating a 16-second audio and visual freeze in one recording.
Video content and language may not be suitable for all viewers. Some content has been redacted to ensure the right to privacy of witnesses and those others directly involved in the incident.
The incident began as an investigation into a report of a disturbance at the Valley Breeze-In, where Johnston had threatened the caller with a hatchet.
