A man involved in a standoff with police last month in New Kensington was handling two loaded guns and might have tried to blow up a house with a natural gas explosion, according to new charges filed against him.
New Kensington police withdrew their initial charges against Burnell Johnson, 26, of Pittsburgh stemming from the standoff on Taylor Avenue, according to court records.
Police at first charged Johnson with misdemeanor counts of simple assault, resisting arrest and obstruction.
He now is charged with two counts of prohibited possession of a firearm and risking a catastrophe, all felonies, and a misdemeanor charge of obstruction.
Johnson was arrested after a SWAT unit was called to a home in the 1100 block of Taylor Avenue on Dec. 30.
A woman told police Johnson punched her as she was driving him to Taylor Avenue after he had gotten into a fight at Valley’s Bar on Seventh Street. He ran into her house, where a babysitter and children were inside.
After the babysitter and children were known to be out, SWAT officers used two flash bangs, according to a criminal complaint. Johnson eventually came out and surrendered.
According to the new complaint, police obtained a search warrant and found two guns in the residence.
A 9mm semiautomatic pistol found on a living room mantle had a round in the chamber and fresh blood on the grip and frame.
The second, a semiautomatic rifle, was found in an upstairs bedroom and also appeared to have fresh blood on its frame. It contained a loaded magazine and a round in the chamber, the complaint says.
The woman told police both guns had been hidden in a secure location in a bedroom and unloaded, according to the complaint.
Johnson was the only person who had been bleeding, police said in the complaint.
He is a convicted felon who is not allowed to possess a gun after being convicted in May 2019 in Louisiana of burglary and illegal possession of a stolen gun, the complaint states.
SWAT officers found smoke inside the house and had the electricity and natural gas shut off, the complaint says. Firefighters could not find any active fire but asked about the oven being open.
While being taken to the county jail by two officers, police say, Johnson told them, “That fire was for y’all when you came in with that gas,” according to the complaint.
A Westmoreland County public defender was representing Johnson on the initial charges but could not say Tuesday if he would be representing him on the new charges.
Johnson continues to be held in Westmoreland County jail in lieu of $75,000 bond. His preliminary hearing on the new charges is scheduled for Jan. 30 before New Kensington District Judge Frank J. Pallone Jr.