AMELIA, Ohio — A man found badly beaten in a Clermont County bar parking lot after witnesses reported he'd had a loaded gun had already shot someone days before, according to the Clermont County Sheriff's Office.
On June 12, a woman called 911 and reported a man was at the bar "with a loaded gun."
At around 8:55 p.m., sheriff's deputies found 43-year-old Daryl Johnson lying in the parking lot of a bar in Amelia with visible head trauma; he was taken to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center by AirCare and he was released at 6:30 a.m. the next morning.
On June 17, Johnson was arrested for having weapons under disability; he'd been previously convicted of a felony charge of attempted aggravated arson in 2007 and was not legally allowed to have a gun, according to court documents.
Deputies also arrested a 34-year-old man, who investigators said was the person responsible for Johnson's injuries. He was charged with felonious assault, but the Clermont County Prosecutor's Office has since declined to prosecute him, court records show.
Court documents say witnesses at the bar told deputies Johnson had been told to leave the bar earlier in the night.
"Johnson stated he would come back with a gun and kill them all," court documents say. "Witnesses report Johnson came back and began firing a pistol."
Those witnesses then told deputies "a patron at the bar" fought with Johnson to get the pistol from him.
Before the incident at the bar ever happened, however, Johnson had already shot his roommate, the Clermont County Sheriff's Office said.
On June 3, at around 3:10 a.m., officials learned a man had arrived at Clermont Mercy Hospital seeking treatment for an apparent gunshot wound to his right leg. The sheriff's office said the victim was uncooperative and refused to provide details about what happened; the man had been walking along the road while wounded, and a person who saw him picked him up and drove him to the hospital.
But days later, on June 6, the victim arrived at Anderson Mercy Hospital seeking additional medical treatment and asked hospital staff to call the sheriff's office. The man then told them that on June 3, he'd been shot by his roommate, Johnson.
The victim said he'd withheld the truth "to avoid getting anyone in trouble," according to the sheriff's office.
Johnson now faces two counts of felonious assault, three counts of having a weapon under disability and one count of tampering with evidence.
