By Brandi Watters, Aleasha Sandley and Dave Stafford
The Herald Bulletin
ANDERSON — Two men surrendered to police after an hour-long standoff in a westside Anderson home Monday afternoon.
Anderson police said that the men were believed to have been involved in a shootout nearby.
Shortly before 1 p.m., officers established a perimeter around the home at 2040 Beverly Court with the two men, 18-year-old Terry Johnson and 19-year-old Tiras Johnson, inside.
The two had holed themselves up inside the house, where Tiras Johnson lives, after they allegedly shot a car, truck and house while following another car, said Anderson Police Department Sgt. Bill Casey.
Casey said a woman, who was in a car in front of that of Terry Johnson and Tiras Johnson, called police to report the car was being followed. Police think the following and shooting were retaliation for a fight in September in which Tiras Johnson was involved, Casey said.
Both men, who are not related, were arrested on suspicion of Class C felony criminal recklessness after police questioned them about Monday’s incident, Casey said. Police have yet to find the weapon used in the alleged shooting, but were searching two vehicles Monday night.
About a half dozen officers with rifles and bullet-proof vests surrounded the small white home Monday afternoon and trained their weapons on the door until Terry Johnson came outside and surrendered.
Within half an hour, Tiras Johnson emerged from the house with his arms in the air.
A woman who refused to give her name but was addressed by police as the owner of the home said her son is Tiras Johnson, the second suspect to surrender.
Using a cordless land-line telephone tucked in the pocket of her sweater, the woman called the home and used the answering machine as an intercom to talk to her son.
“I called the house and told him to come out,” she said.
Before calling the home, the woman urged police to allow her inside the house, convinced that she could get the men to surrender.
Officers told her it wasn’t safe and informed her to stay out of the line of fire.
Soon after the surrender of the first suspect, police received information that the home contained two .22-caliber rifles and an unknown number of machetes.
After the standoff, police could not confirm whether any weapons were found inside the house.
Neighbors gathering near the house to watch the activity were continuously urged to stand back, warned that they were in range if there was gunfire.
The reported homeowner said she knew the weapons were inside the home at the time of the standoff. “That’s our personal property.”
She claimed to have no knowledge of an alleged shootout. “I was at the store.”
Neighbor Julia Roberts was not aware of the standoff two homes away from her own until she peered outside to find officers pointing their guns at a nearby house.
“I kept hearing noise and I looked out the side window and saw the police,” the 61-year-old resident said as her eyes fixed on the house moments before the surrender of the second suspect.
Officials at Head Start of Madison County school two blocks away told The Herald Bulletin they were never informed of the police standoff.
On Beverly Court, nearly one dozen officers in black military gear and helmets carrying rifles emerged from an armored black truck and lined the street in front of the house after Tiras Johnson surrendered and Terry Johnson was already in custody.
Using a shield as a guard, the SWAT members filed inside and found the house empty.
Terry Johnson was arrested in August in connection with the fatal shooting of a Muncie girl at an under-21 club. He is awaiting trial on a charge of criminal recklessness with a handgun.
Contact Brandi Watters: 640-4847, brandi.watters@heraldbulletin.com
