Next week Christopher North will be in court on a murder charge. The shooting that killed 21 year old Austin David, in the middle of the day, and at a busy intersection in Abilene, did get and has gotten lots of media attention, and no doubt it will be the same during the trial. In case you did not hear about it.
Austin David and Chris North were involved in some sort of altercation traveling on Sales Blvd. When they got to South 14Th, the way I understand it, David got out of his car and North got out of his truck. Not sure who pulled a gun first but at some point both got in their vehicles and North backed up into the car David was driving and pushed him onto the median in the middle of the road. Both got out of their cars again, that's when North shot David and killed him. North says self defence. Was it? We may find out after the trial is over.
Our plan is to sit in the court room and update you via Twitter, Facebook and bigcountryhomepage.com. We will be doing live updates at noon, 5, and 6,and wrapping up the days events at 10.
This is one of the biggest cases I have covered in my career, and not only does the outcome involve justice for the David family or North, however the jury sees it, when it is all over, but I think the trial will also involve some gun control talk. We will see, but I know I am not the only one interested in this case. The court may move the trial into a bigger room because they expect others will have and interest and may come and watch the proceedings.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Monday, August 1, 2011
Mix Up
I ask people to tell their stories after an ordeal all the time, and sometimes they do, sometimes they do not. The point is, it is my job to ask, even if I know sometimes it will be tough for them. Because I do what I do, I feel I should share my family's ordeal over the weekend.
Regular watchers of the five o'clock newscast know I was gone Friday. Here's why:
As I was getting ready for work, my sister, who is in the New England area, called to inform me my younger brother was involved in a truck accident in Llano. She said he was on his way to work, at around five that morning, when the truck he was in rolled. All we knew when my sister called me is the two people in the vehicle had been flown to the hospital, but we did not know what hospital.
So I finished getting ready for work and started this way, thinking I could make some calls from work to see where my brother was air-lifted to. As I was turning onto South 14th, my little sister called me back to tell me my brother was air-lifted to Hendrick. So I turned around and was on my way to the hospital when my Mom called. She was crying and said she was on her way to Abilene with my other younger brother and my older sister. I told her I would call her when I got to the hospital.
When I walked into the hospital, I asked where I could find my brother, who was just air-lifted in. Security pointed me in the right direction. I got the person I needed to talk to and he asked if I could help them finish filling out my brother's information. They already had his name and some other info but they needed date of birth and other things like that, so I called my mom and asked her. By then they were already in the car on their way to Abilene from Midland. She asked, still crying, how my brother was doing. I told her I did not know, because I had just arrived at the hospital and the sooner we could get the info they needed the sooner we would know. I assured my mom that I would call as soon as I knew something. Then I was taken to a small waiting room that no one else was in and told the nurse would be in soon. Right away I thought it was going to be bad news, otherwise why wouldn't I be in the regular waiting room?
After a few minutes the nurse comes in and introduces herself to me then proceeds to explain my brother's injuries, including a head injury. As the nurse is talking to me, the doctor comes in and tells me more. He tells me that my brother also has a broken arm and maybe a broken leg, but they would get to those injuries later because they were concentrating on the head injuries. By then my mind was racing and I was prepared for the worst. Before leaving the room the nurse told me it's good that I was there, and that it would be good for my brother to know somebody was there with him, even though he was not conscious. She said they had to do a few more things and then they would let me back to see and at least try and talk to him.
A few more minutes go by and the nurse comes to get me and leads me to where my brother is being treated. As I walk in to the room, I see a team of people around him and see one person working on my bother's leg, and immediately hesitate. They urge me to go and talk to him. Still hesitant, I walked to the bed and looked very closely and even called out my brothers name.
It's at that point that I stepped back and told the people in the room, "this is not my brother!"
Before I said that, all kinds of things went through my head. One of them was, could my sister have told me the wrong brother was involved in the wreck, because the guy on the table was bigger than my youngest brother who I was told was in the accident. I immediately thought my sister meant to say it was my other younger brother who is a bigger guy. The person on the table had facial injuries so I looked really close and thought, no that's not him.
Standing there I called my Mom and told her. She then asked, "then where is he, and how is he doing?" Of course no one knew, because we did not even know who the person on the table was. He came in with no identification, so the staff at the hospital thought they were working on my brother. To make things more confusing the other person involved in the accident was supposed to be a 62-year-old man and supposedly air-lifted to a hospital in another town. That's the info I got and that's the info Hendirck had, although I'm sure what the staff was thinking was, "here is a guy involved in a roll over, flown in, lets work on him no matter what his name is."
So, I am on the phone with my mom telling her, "this is not my brother." She then asked me if I was sure, and told me to check for tattoos. My brother has two sons and he has one of their names on one arm and the other on the other arm. The staff checked for me and there were no names. At that point my brothers wife who was also on her way to Abilene in a separate car, was on the phone with a nurse and I got on the phone with her and told her the same news and she replied like my mom did, "then where is he and how is he doing?" Somewhere in the middle of all that we found out that it was my brother who was flown to another town and the person here at Hendrick was the other person in the truck (about the same age as my brother). The information about the 62-year-old being involved in the accident was wrong and when a younger man wound up at Hendrick, every body assumed it was my brother, and that the older man was at another hospital. It turns out there was not a 62-year-old man in the truck, instead it was my brother and the guy who was now lying in front of me being worked on.
My brother suffered a broken leg and ribs but is okay and was able to call my mom and tell her to go back home.
We later found out the truck he was in rolled about 5 to 6 times and the driver was ejected and my brother, who had his seat belt on, had to break a window to get out of the truck. He then had to crawl up a ditch they had rolled into and yelled for help. The man who stopped to help said he just happened to have his window down and heard my brother yell for help, because he did not see him.
I spent the weekend thinking about the man at Hendrick and how helpful they told me it would be for my brother if he knew I was there with him. Because of the mix-up it took that much longer for his family to get to him. I also wondered if his family thought he was not as injured as he was. I was told the person in the accident, who was the most injured, was brought here to Hendrick. Did his family think he was in another town? We are still trying to find out where the mix up came from but I do know that the people at Hendrick were as helpful as could be and when I thought my brother was in that emergency room, after talking to the doctor and the nurse, I felt assured he was in capable hands. My brother is okay now we pray that the man who is at Hendrick is doing well and his family is okay too. I know they are there with him today.
Regular watchers of the five o'clock newscast know I was gone Friday. Here's why:
As I was getting ready for work, my sister, who is in the New England area, called to inform me my younger brother was involved in a truck accident in Llano. She said he was on his way to work, at around five that morning, when the truck he was in rolled. All we knew when my sister called me is the two people in the vehicle had been flown to the hospital, but we did not know what hospital.
So I finished getting ready for work and started this way, thinking I could make some calls from work to see where my brother was air-lifted to. As I was turning onto South 14th, my little sister called me back to tell me my brother was air-lifted to Hendrick. So I turned around and was on my way to the hospital when my Mom called. She was crying and said she was on her way to Abilene with my other younger brother and my older sister. I told her I would call her when I got to the hospital.
When I walked into the hospital, I asked where I could find my brother, who was just air-lifted in. Security pointed me in the right direction. I got the person I needed to talk to and he asked if I could help them finish filling out my brother's information. They already had his name and some other info but they needed date of birth and other things like that, so I called my mom and asked her. By then they were already in the car on their way to Abilene from Midland. She asked, still crying, how my brother was doing. I told her I did not know, because I had just arrived at the hospital and the sooner we could get the info they needed the sooner we would know. I assured my mom that I would call as soon as I knew something. Then I was taken to a small waiting room that no one else was in and told the nurse would be in soon. Right away I thought it was going to be bad news, otherwise why wouldn't I be in the regular waiting room?
After a few minutes the nurse comes in and introduces herself to me then proceeds to explain my brother's injuries, including a head injury. As the nurse is talking to me, the doctor comes in and tells me more. He tells me that my brother also has a broken arm and maybe a broken leg, but they would get to those injuries later because they were concentrating on the head injuries. By then my mind was racing and I was prepared for the worst. Before leaving the room the nurse told me it's good that I was there, and that it would be good for my brother to know somebody was there with him, even though he was not conscious. She said they had to do a few more things and then they would let me back to see and at least try and talk to him.
A few more minutes go by and the nurse comes to get me and leads me to where my brother is being treated. As I walk in to the room, I see a team of people around him and see one person working on my bother's leg, and immediately hesitate. They urge me to go and talk to him. Still hesitant, I walked to the bed and looked very closely and even called out my brothers name.
It's at that point that I stepped back and told the people in the room, "this is not my brother!"
Before I said that, all kinds of things went through my head. One of them was, could my sister have told me the wrong brother was involved in the wreck, because the guy on the table was bigger than my youngest brother who I was told was in the accident. I immediately thought my sister meant to say it was my other younger brother who is a bigger guy. The person on the table had facial injuries so I looked really close and thought, no that's not him.
Standing there I called my Mom and told her. She then asked, "then where is he, and how is he doing?" Of course no one knew, because we did not even know who the person on the table was. He came in with no identification, so the staff at the hospital thought they were working on my brother. To make things more confusing the other person involved in the accident was supposed to be a 62-year-old man and supposedly air-lifted to a hospital in another town. That's the info I got and that's the info Hendirck had, although I'm sure what the staff was thinking was, "here is a guy involved in a roll over, flown in, lets work on him no matter what his name is."
So, I am on the phone with my mom telling her, "this is not my brother." She then asked me if I was sure, and told me to check for tattoos. My brother has two sons and he has one of their names on one arm and the other on the other arm. The staff checked for me and there were no names. At that point my brothers wife who was also on her way to Abilene in a separate car, was on the phone with a nurse and I got on the phone with her and told her the same news and she replied like my mom did, "then where is he and how is he doing?" Somewhere in the middle of all that we found out that it was my brother who was flown to another town and the person here at Hendrick was the other person in the truck (about the same age as my brother). The information about the 62-year-old being involved in the accident was wrong and when a younger man wound up at Hendrick, every body assumed it was my brother, and that the older man was at another hospital. It turns out there was not a 62-year-old man in the truck, instead it was my brother and the guy who was now lying in front of me being worked on.
My brother suffered a broken leg and ribs but is okay and was able to call my mom and tell her to go back home.
We later found out the truck he was in rolled about 5 to 6 times and the driver was ejected and my brother, who had his seat belt on, had to break a window to get out of the truck. He then had to crawl up a ditch they had rolled into and yelled for help. The man who stopped to help said he just happened to have his window down and heard my brother yell for help, because he did not see him.
I spent the weekend thinking about the man at Hendrick and how helpful they told me it would be for my brother if he knew I was there with him. Because of the mix-up it took that much longer for his family to get to him. I also wondered if his family thought he was not as injured as he was. I was told the person in the accident, who was the most injured, was brought here to Hendrick. Did his family think he was in another town? We are still trying to find out where the mix up came from but I do know that the people at Hendrick were as helpful as could be and when I thought my brother was in that emergency room, after talking to the doctor and the nurse, I felt assured he was in capable hands. My brother is okay now we pray that the man who is at Hendrick is doing well and his family is okay too. I know they are there with him today.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
So, I am new to this social networking thing. I know, but it is better late than never, I think. It seems, for the last few days I have been immersed in social networking. Let me explain. When I got back to work after the weekend, I had a Facebook page that is linked to my Twitter account, that both are linked to my phone. I don't know how it happened I just know i was told to tweet and update my face book page while I am out on stories. Well first I had to learn how to do that, and I am still learning. Then I did a story with the Abilene Police Department on how they are about to file their first couple of on-line bullying cases, involving Facebook and some local students (they did not name the schools or the students or what they did exactly, but you can imagine), so I had to do some research to know what I was talking about. Well, today I learned that not only is there a learning curve on how to use all this stuff, but there is one on when to use it. I was in the 104th district court today for the Timothy Moreno murder trial. After the lunch break, I was sitting outside the courtroom, waiting for the trial to get started back up, when I saw the District Attorney walk by with a piece of paper in his hand. He went to the Bailiff of the 104th and they walked for just a second together and the DA handed the paper to the Bailiff. The Bailiff then walked towards me and said "This will not happen again in my courtroom." He showed me the paper the DA had handed him, and it was an article from Big Country Home Page, that included a tweet that I had tweeted from the inside the courtroom. Apparently the Judge does not allow tweeting from his court room. I apologized to Rafe, the Bailiff, who was nice as could be about the whole thing but I did not get to apologize to the Judge, but I hope to catch up with him tomorrow. Sorry Judge.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Face to Face With the Burglars, Now What?
Recently an Abilene family reported to police they walked into their home, and found two teens going through their dresser drawers.
But I'd like to say, I'd stop them. Catch them. Hold them down. Stand heroically like this:
Yes. Eagle included. I don't know where I'd get one, but maybe it would just know that justice was done and it was time to land on my arm..
Whoa!
If anyone has ever been the victim of any type of theft or burglary, what is it many of us think/say... "If I could have just seen the person(s) who did this, I'd ____"
What? What would you do?
I know what I'd like to do, but I also know what I'd likely do.
I'd likely yell at them while reaching for the phone and trying to get out of the house, just in case. Sounds logical and I'm sure the police would appreciate the lack of a "heroic attempt" to catch the crooks.
But I'd like to say, I'd stop them. Catch them. Hold them down. Stand heroically like this:
Yes. Eagle included. I don't know where I'd get one, but maybe it would just know that justice was done and it was time to land on my arm..
Yeah. Right.
But we all say what we'd like to do, so I want to know, how would you handle that situation?
Comment away..
PS- In this case, the son spotted the burglars, the burglars spotted the son and fled by jumping through an open window. Everyone is safe and the report says nothing was immediately missing.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Burglary With a Turn Down Service
Here's one that didn't make the news...but it'll make you wonder, "What kinda world is this?"
An officer caught me in the parking lot of the police station, and said I have a story for you. Like always, that catches my "journalist" ears.
I spun around and said "Alright, I'm all ears."
He began to say he was working a burglary where someone had gotten into a house and shuffled a few things around.
"Sounds common," I thought... then the hook.
The officer said the victim reported the suspect not only broke in but made the victim's bed!
"WHAT!?"
Now that is one, "nice" burglar. I mean the crime, and being a victim of the crime is a bad deal, but come on, turn down service... that's something you don't see everyday.
I wanted to track this down to air it for you, but life changed directions quickly after the much debated Sayles Boulevard shooting.
So I figure, why not make this a "Blog exclusive."
Makes you think doesn't it.
BONUS:
This story you did see on the news, a shop lifter with an eye for hygiene. Police reports show a man walked into a North Abilene pharmacy and stole several packages of teeth whitening strips, and several power toothbrushes.
Okay, hold up... why?
I'm not sure, but it did add up to over thousand dollars worth of stuff.
Still you have to imagine the line up when this guy is caught:
Officer:"Number 3 step forward and smile."
Witness: "Yep, that's got to be him, look how white those teeth are! I'd recognize that smile anywhere."
Or as my boss joked, when I shared the report with the newsroom, "Look for any new dentists opening up in the area."
To which I threw back, "Especially, anyone operating out of the back seat of their sedan."
There ya go... a nice little laugh at some of Abilene's "Hardened" Criminals.
-Tim Johnston
An officer caught me in the parking lot of the police station, and said I have a story for you. Like always, that catches my "journalist" ears.
I spun around and said "Alright, I'm all ears."
He began to say he was working a burglary where someone had gotten into a house and shuffled a few things around.
"Sounds common," I thought... then the hook.
The officer said the victim reported the suspect not only broke in but made the victim's bed!
"WHAT!?"
Now that is one, "nice" burglar. I mean the crime, and being a victim of the crime is a bad deal, but come on, turn down service... that's something you don't see everyday.
I wanted to track this down to air it for you, but life changed directions quickly after the much debated Sayles Boulevard shooting.
So I figure, why not make this a "Blog exclusive."
Makes you think doesn't it.
BONUS:
This story you did see on the news, a shop lifter with an eye for hygiene. Police reports show a man walked into a North Abilene pharmacy and stole several packages of teeth whitening strips, and several power toothbrushes.
Okay, hold up... why?
I'm not sure, but it did add up to over thousand dollars worth of stuff.
Still you have to imagine the line up when this guy is caught:
Officer:"Number 3 step forward and smile."
Witness: "Yep, that's got to be him, look how white those teeth are! I'd recognize that smile anywhere."
Or as my boss joked, when I shared the report with the newsroom, "Look for any new dentists opening up in the area."
To which I threw back, "Especially, anyone operating out of the back seat of their sedan."
There ya go... a nice little laugh at some of Abilene's "Hardened" Criminals.
-Tim Johnston
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Shooting in the middle of town
It's terrible what happened on Sales and South 14th. A young man was shot and killed in front of several witnesses and in the middle of town. When I drove up to the scene people were still in shock, and many were hugging and consoling each other in the street. It's never easy to see that kind of thing, no matter how many times I have seen it. The worst part was seeing the mother of Austin David, the man who was shot, consoling David's girlfriend, who was in the car with him at the time of the shooting.
Photos of Austin David shared by his mom
Photos of Austin David shared by his momHere is what scares me about things like this. It happened at an intersection we have all driving thousands of time, and any of us could have been in that area at that time, and any of our families could have been there too.
I don't know if you have ever listened to a police scanner all day long, but here at KTAB we do, and when I here something like this, or a high speed chase, or a vehicle accident, I think, "Where are my wife and kids?" My wife is a stay at home mother, who enjoys taking the kids out and about while I am at work. They could be anywhere in town at any point in the day. If I hear a bad accident near my home, I sometimes call my wife to make sure they were not involved. If I hear a high speed chase, I call my wife to make sure they are not in the area. It's very scary to think that at anytime someone could make a bad choice that would affect others around them in what ever way. The people who witnessed yesterday's shooting may not have been hurt, but they saw what happened and those images will be with them for a long time. The families of both men involved have to be devastated, and I know people in Abilene are still shocked at what happened on our streets.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Tim Johnston's "Wardrobe Malfunction"
Tim, checking in, with yet another "non-crime" related blog. Sorry.
I'll get back to that stuff soon enough.
But for now, allow me to amuse you with a silly moment I recently had while anchoring a weekend show!
I've been anchoring the KRBC Weekend newscast for just a handful of months now, and if you've watched, you've likely caught some silly moments in my shows.
I'm human.
It happens.
Keep watching, I'm bound to top it. (a la Girl Scout Cookie Moment-- different blog for a different time)
Back to the blog- Working at KRBC, and in the "real world," for 2 and a half years now I've learned a lot of things.. like tying a tie and how to "Dress for Success."
I'm confident enough to tie my tie without looking...
Only thing is, I'm not consistent enough.
Yep, that's a good 4-6 inches ABOVE the belt line.. not even trying to hide it. How's that for dressing for success? (Btw- Mom, I'd never go out in public like this!) Good thing, as an anchor I have a jacket that covers this "malfunction" and a desk to further hide the lack of length.
Maybe that's why most male anchors wear the jacket buttoned up, or even why men like former WFAA Weatherman Troy Dungan went away from the tie and rocked the bow tie.
Hmm, he might be on to something...Anyway, I hope my malfunction amuses you as much as it did me, maybe I'll give you more to enjoy on the weekends! Thanks for watching!
Laugh with me.. Leave a comment!
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