Other options could have prevented gunplay

To some, Cleo Johns might be a hero.

He single-handedly stopped Winford S. Griffith's recent shooting rampage, which nearly claimed a woman's life and could have continued indefinitely.

Police have put together this series of events: The incident began when Johns apparently spilled the beans to one of Griffith's alleged girlfriends that he was cheating on her. The woman confronted Griffith, and his anger began to simmer.

When that anger boiled over on March 15, Griffith tried to shoot the woman he was accused of cavorting with, but she escaped. Next he shot his alleged girlfriend in the head, but she miraculously survived.

And then Griffith came after Johns, who was armed and waiting at Ed's Bar in on Good Hope Street in Cape Girardeau.

Therein lies the problem.

Witness accounts reveal an eerie calm on the part of Johns, who moved to a less populated part of the bar when Griffith entered. Johns already knew from a police scanner that Griffith had shot his alleged girlfriend. And he knew his friend well enough to arm himself with a Colt semiautomatic as he waited.

When Griffith entered the bar, he and Johns exchanged gunfire. Griffith died that day.

Is Johns brave? Maybe. Foolish? Probably.

A hero?

Definitely not.

Johns testified at a coroner's inquest that Griffith was like a brother to him. But that's certainly no way to treat a brother.

The smart thing to do would have been to let law enforcement intervene. Johns said he believed the tiff could blow over, but he must not have been too convinced or he wouldn't have felt the need to arm himself.

Had the police been called somewhere between the confrontation with the alleged girlfriend and gunplay, they could have talked to Griffith and perhaps referred him to counseling. They might have discovered some violation of the law that would have allowed for an arrest and time to cool off.

Instead, Johns' friend is dead today.

That's why Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle was right to charge Johns this week with two counts of unlawful use of a weapon for carrying a loaded weapon and taking it into a public place.

If Johns is found guilty, his sentence could be up to seven years in a state penitentiary and $5,000 in fines.

It certainly seems some punishment is in order for ignoring the law that prohibits concealed weapons and for taking the law into his own hands when other courses of action were more appropriate.