Fort Pierce - Thursday January 19, 2023: The St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office has announced that Frederick Lamar Johnson, Jr. is 'is no longer a person of interest' in the Monday afternoon MLK Day shooting in Fort Pierce.
According to a statement posted Thursday morning on the SLC Sheriff Facebook page, "after speaking with Johnson, detectives have determined that Johnson is no longer a person of interest at this time."
During a news conference Thursday afternoon St. Lucie County Sheriff Ken Mascara said his detectives interviewed Johnson Wednesday and they assured him that Johnson was not involved in the shooting.
As of late Thursday afternoon no arrests had been made in the case. Mascara declined to say whether they have any suspects yet. However he vowed "we will make an arrest in this case."
The Sheriff also said that a $5,000 reward, put up by the Florida Sheriff's Association, is now being offered for anyone who has information about that shooting that leads to an arrest in the case.
"We're willing to pay for information," said the Sheriff. "This case is important to me, its important to the Sheriff's Office, and its important to this community."
Anyone with any information about the shooting is asked to call the Sheriff at 772-462-3230 or call Treasure Coast Crime Stoppers at 1-800-273-8477.
Johnson Voluntarily Turned Himself In
The 27-year-old Johnson voluntarily turned himself in at the SLC Sheriff Office Wednesday afternoon around 1 p.m., just a few hours after the SLC Sheriff Chief Deputy Brian Hester held a televised news conference during which he said Johnson "was there when it happened," and "we want to get him into custody and obviously we want to talk to him.”
However, on the Facebook page of Fred L. Johnson Jr., in a more than 10 minute rant, laced with profanity, Johnson said he was not at the event during which one woman was killed and 7 others were injured by gunfire.
In the post Johnson can be heard saying: "I didn't go to the parade or the car show" and "I was in the house all ... day." He said "I'm going to go turn myself in, but when I get done ... I'm suing the whole ... Department for defamation of character." The Facebook post can be heard here. Discretion is advised because of language content.
Johnson however was arrested and jailed Wednesday on a felony warrant for violation of probation on prior drug-related charges, un-related to the MLK Day shooting. He was booked into the St. Lucie County Jail without bond.