A man charged with fatally shooting his father will be prosecuted in Flathead County, officials said Wednesday, after using GPS mapping to determine the exact location of the incident.
Ross Johnson, 20, was arrested Sept. 1 after a two-day standoff with authorities at his home near Polson. Investigators say he fled to the residence after shooting his father, Roger Johnson, on Aug. 30 in the woods about 30 miles north of Thompson Falls.
GPS mapping showed that the shooting occurred just inside the Flathead County line, not in Sanders County as previously believed.
The Flathead County Sheriff’s Office will begin its own investigation and will re-interview witnesses and the suspect, Undersheriff Pete Wingert said.
“If we are to testify to something in court, we need to be firsthand witnesses to it,” he said, adding that Flathead County officials would ask Sanders County to forward any investigative reports about the shooting.
The deliberate homicide charge filed against Johnson in Sanders County probably will be dropped, allowing the Flathead County Attorney’s Office to draft its own charges.