In the early minutes of December 5, 2017, a 5-year-old Black/African American. boy named Christian Johnnson was found mortally wounded in his family's East Anchorage apartment on the 5700 block of Rocky Mountain Court. Police were called just after 12:20 a.m.; investigators determined that the 5-year-old boy discovered a loaded handgun in a bedroom nightstand and shot himself. He died at the scene, and police publicly urged residents to secure firearms with locks or safes. The case was referred to the Anchorage district attorney's office for possible charges as detectives continued their work. A community vigil took shape outside the family's building as relatives prepared for the child's funeral.
In the immediate aftermath, federal authorities arrested the child's father, Anthony L. Johnnson, on a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm. In court, prosecutors described his prior drug-trafficking conviction and outlined items seized from the home, including the. 40-caliber semiautomatic pistol found beside the 5-year-old boy and quantities of ammunition elsewhere in the apartment. A U.S. magistrate judge approved house arrest with GPS monitoring so he could help plan the funeral, while Anchorage police continued to investigate the child's death. News accounts emphasized that the fatal shot was self-inflicted and did not identify any homicide suspect; the focus of potential criminal liability centered on firearm possession and storage.
Reporters also relayed what the parents told investigators about the moments before the gunshot—how the child's mother heard the blast and found the 5-year-old boy in the bedroom—details that underscored the accidental nature of the shooting and the stakes of safe storage. As coverage widened beyond Alaska, national outlets reiterated the timeline and authorities' warning that unsecured firearms put children at risk.
