A Tucson man is facing charges of aggravated assault with a serious weapon, after police said he opened fire and injured a man in a December altercation inside a popular Fourth Avenue bar.
Mark Anthony Johnson, 40, was indicted on felony charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault causing serious injury and misconduct involving a weapon, according to Pima County Superior Court records.
He has a case management hearing with Pima County Superior Court Judge Richard D. Nichols scheduled for Monday, Feb. 13.
Johnson, who is claiming self-defense in the incident, is accused of shooting a man at least four times after a Dec. 17 fight at The Hut, 305 N. Fourth Ave., according to a Tucson police report.
Police went to bar shortly before 1:30 a.m., after receiving reports of a shooting. Officers found Johnson being held on the ground by several men, according to the report.
Johnson told officers he was playing pool with his girlfriend and some friends, when a man started “hitting his girl” and Johnson went to stop him. He told the man he was going to fight him when Johnson was struck on the head with a pool cue or pool ball, knocking him down, the police report said.
Johnson said that when he got up, he flashed his gun at the man standing in front of him, who grabbed the gun . They began to fight for control of the firearm, according to the police report.
”(Johnson) stated that his finger was on the trigger and he must have pulled it a few times when trying to get the gun back,” the officer wrote in the incident report.
Inside the bar, police found blood spatter on the floor and bullet holes in the walls and a television, the report said.
Johnson was taken to the hospital where he received stitches for cuts on his head before being booked into the Pima County jail. He’s still being held on a $25,000 bond.
The shooting victim left the scene with his girlfriend, who was trying to drive him to Northwest Medical Center when the car was pulled over by Arizona Department of Safety troopers. The state troopers notified TPD of the traffic stop and followed the couple to the hospital, the police report said.
When police spoke to the victim, he said he didn’t want to prosecute. After being served with a subpoena by the Pima County Attorney’s Office, he testified at the preliminary hearing Dec. 27, during which the judge ruled there was probable cause to bring the case to trial, the police report said.
