Marine Charged With Murder In January Shooting At Washington Barracks

[mahatmakanejeeves]

AUG 2, 12:31 PM

Marine Charged With Murder In January Shooting At Washington Barracks
Natalie Delgadillo



The Marine Barracks Washington, which is the oldest active post in the Marine Corps.
Ted Eytan / Flickr

A marine has been charged with murder in a January shooting that occurred at the Marine Barracks Washington on January 1.

Andrew M. Johnson is charged in the early morning New Year’s Day shooting at the Marine Barracks Washington in Southeast. Johnson is accused of displaying irresponsibility with his firearm on more than one occasion, and of causing Kuznia’s death with “culpable negligence” and “wanton disregard of human life” in charging documents provided to DCist.

On the day of the shooting, Johnson allegedly pointed a pistol at Kuznia’s head and “pulled the trigger in jest,” per the document. The pistol discharged and Kuznia was shot—he was later pronounced dead at a Washington-area hospital. The charge sheet accuses Johnson of several counts of “dereliction of duty,” one count of murder, one count of involuntary manslaughter, and one count of negligent homicide. ... The Marine Corps Times was the first to report on the charges.

The charge sheet also accuses Johnson of other dangerous behaviors with is weapon: In November 2018, it alleges, he removed his gun from its holster while dancing. At the end of December 2018, he allegedly removed his pistol from its holster, chambered a round, and said something to the effect of “Oh, you’re going to a party. Fuck this shit,” the charging documents allege. On the day of Kuznia’s death, Johnson allegedly failed to follow firearm procedure “by improperly clearing his pistol in an undesignated area without a supervisor,” per the documents.
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Kuznia was 20 years old and from Karlstad, Minnesota. He was the team leader for Guard Company at the Barracks. On Thursday, Kuznia’s mother told the Washington Post that she was “just trying to process” the charges against the person who allegedly killed her son. Kuznia had wanted to be a marine since he was a child, she said.
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[Yonnie3]

1. Wow! I've been there many times.

We worked two or three events at 8th and I each year up until 2016. One of the events was an Oktoberfest. I recall my brother pointing out that the guards patrolling the area were the ones under 21, because they could not drink the beer. They were armed with small weapons that looked to my untrained eye like Uzis. The guards were the only ones with guns.