On May 11, 2026, at approximately 12:56 P.M., officers with the Wyoming Police Department were dispatched to an address within Wyoming, in Chisago County, in the State of Minnesota, to a report of an assault with a weapon in progress. Initial information was that a husband was attacking his wife with a hammer, and this assault was called in by an Amazon driver. Upon arrival, one of the officers approached the Amazon truck and noted that there was no one in the vehicle. The officer then noted that the front door to the house was open.
As the officer walked through the door, the officer saw the caller and the victim in the living room area. The caller was later identified as L. L. ("the caller") and the victim was later identified as C. C. J. ("the victim"). The officer observed that the victim [NAME REDACTED] from her head, that there was blood on the floor, and that there was blood on the victim's arms. The officer then asked the caller and the victim [NAME REDACTED], and they responded that the suspect was downstairs. The caller pointed out the hammer on a table, and the officer noted there was blood on the hammer.
The officer asked the victim for the suspect's name, and she responded that it was James. The suspect was later identified as JAMES ALAN JOHNSON, [DOB REDACTED] ("the Defendant"). The officer then went to the stairs to get between the caller and the victim [NAME REDACTED], and the Defendant on the other. The officer drew his department-issued taser and went halfway down the stairs. The officer gave commands to the Defendant, and the Defendant came out of a back room. The officer gave commands to the Defendant, and the Defendant got into a prone handcuffing position.
The officer then handcuffed the Defendant behind his back and checked for proper fit. The officer briefly spoke with the caller, who explained that, when he was dropping off the package, the driver heard yelling, saw the victim [NAME REDACTED] on her hands after touching her head, and the Defendant holding a hammer, so the caller entered the house. The caller yelled at the Defendant to drop the hammer, and the Defendant handed the hammer to the caller, who then set it down on the table. While the first arriving officer was dealing with the Defendant in the basement, a second Wyoming police officer went to the victim, [NAME REDACTED] on her back on the living room floor and yelling for help.
There was a large pool of blood on the floor beneath the victim's head and the victim [NAME REDACTED] on her hands. The officer lifted the victim's head and observed two large bloody indents that were consistent with being struck by a hammer several times. The victim [NAME REDACTED], the Defendant, had hit her in the head with a hammer twice and that she had kicked him in the crotch when he was on top of her to get him off. The Defendant was subsequently interviewed at the Chisago County Jail. The Defendant admitted to striking the victim twice in the head with a hammer.
