End of Watch:
July 8, 1911
Age: 42
Salt Lake City Police Department
Homicide: Handgun
Sergeant John H. Johnston died of a gunshot wound suffered three days earlier.
In the early morning hours of July 5, Sergeant Johnston and two other officers responded to a domestic disturbance in a room at the Albert Hotel, 119 S. West Temple. Officers discovered an intoxicated man threatening his wife with a .32-caliber revolver. When Sergeant Johnson stepped between the man and his wife, he was shot once in the abdomen. The man was attempting to shoot Sergeant Johnson again when he was subdued by the other officers. Sergeant Johnston was transported to St. Mark’s Hospital where he died. The suspect was charged with first-degree murder, convicted, and sentenced to life in prison. Two years later, after the Utah Supreme Court ordered a new trial, the suspect pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. He was paroled in 1917. Sergeant Johnston was survived by his wife and two children. He is buried in Mount Calvary Cemetery, Salt Lake City.
The bronze memorial name plaque of Sergeant John H. Johnston is sponsored by the Salt Lake City Police Sergeants Association.