“Tyjuan L. Johnson, 27, initially claimed that he simply was walking up North 17th Street in Lafayette on Wednesday night when he heard what sounded like “firecrackers going off in the distance” and got shot in the right hand.” Where have we heard that one before? Oh yeah. Almost everywhere. There are people the camera loves and then there are people like Tyjuan who’s now a resident of the Tippecanoe County jail because . . .
Lafayette police were called to St. Elizabeth Central hospital at 11:17 p.m. Wednesday to investigate a shooting that had just taken place. There, they spoke with Johnson, who was lying in a hospital bed with a towel wrapped around his right hand. The bullet went through it.
But the coppers didn’t believe his cock and bull “just walking down the street” story.
After learning that Johnson’s girlfriend sent an acquaintance a text message about Johnson accidentally shooting himself, police got a search warrant for their home on Banstead Court. There, officers found blood spots on the carpet leading to the bathroom, along with more blood in the bathroom sink and walls.
Damn, foiled by an electronic text trail. Besides the blood the cops found a .22 Derringer hidden in a popcorn box. Cracker Jack’s giving away some cool toys these days, no? The only problem is the Derringer’s serial number has been filed off. Oops. We hope Tyjuan won’t want to file his name off of his IGOTD award after all the effort we expend to have it engraved for him.