Name released of woman shot by deputy

The name of the woman shot and killed by a deputy Thursday after she allegedly pointed a gun at officers was released Monday.

Cherise Johnson, 36, was struck in the head 10 minutes after officers arrived at the home she shared with her boyfriend and two others near Lone Mountain Cemetery.

According to police, officers were first called to 1813 Marian Ave. on a report of a suicidal woman. Then there was a report that the woman feared she would be shot by an unnamed man.

When officers arrived, they were talking in the doorway of the home with one of the four men inside when Johnson allegedly pulled out a .40-caliber handgun equipped with a laser sight, said Sheriff Kenny Furlong.

He said after officers backed out of the home, Johnson stood on the front porch waving the gun at deputies. When she appeared to take aim at one officer, the deputy opened fire with a shotgun, striking Johnson. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

The name of the deputy has not been released. He is currently on leave - standard protocol for the department when an officer is involved in a shooting, Furlong said.

Johnson's father, retired Southern Baptist pastor Larry Johnson of Rogue River, Ore., said he last spoke to his daughter three weeks ago. He said he and Cherise's mother adopted Cherise when she was 2 weeks old. She was the couple's only child, and was raised in Oregon. Before moving to Carson City, she lived in Lake Havasu.

"I loved her dearly," he said. "That's why we adopted her. We wanted a child really badly; that was the only way."

Cherise was preceded in death by her mother.

The Department of Public Safety is handling the criminal investigation into the shooting. The Carson City Sheriff's Department is conducting a parallel internal investigation, said Furlong.

• Contact reporter F.T. Norton at ftnorton@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1213.