A 76-year-old retired Prince George’s judge was found dead of a single gunshot to the head Monday night at his Bowie home after holding police at bay for almost 12 hours, according to Prince George’s County police.
Cpl. Stephen Pacheco said George Rice Hovey Johnson began firing rounds from a handgun around 11 a.m. and his wife, Joan Johnson, fled the house in the 16000 block of Audubon Lane. Joan Johnson told officers her husband suffered from Alzheimer’s and was suicidal, Pacheco said.
Around 10:30 p.m., members of the emergency services team forced their way into the house. Pacheco said they found Johnson in his car in the garage, dead of a single gunshot to the head. His body has been sent to the Medical Examiner’s Office in Baltimore.
According to the Maryland archives, Johnson was born in Richmond on Nov. 13, 1930, and served 23 years in the U.S. Army before retiring as a colonel in 1974. Johnson then went on to get his law degree from Georgetown University in 1977 and was admitted to the Maryland State Bar in 1978. He served as an associate judge in the 7th judicial circuit court from 1982 to his retirement on Nov. 13, 2000.
