A young boy remains frightened and confused by the night two shots were fired, perhaps at him.
By DONNA WINCHESTER, Times Staff Writer
Published January 1, 2006
ST. PETERSBURG - Six months after reporting that a neighbor fired shots at him, a Childs Park 10-year-old still relives the moment in his dreams.
"It's always about somebody killing somebody," said Josephine Collins, describing the nightmare that still haunts her grandson.
Hopeton Johnson was on his way to a neighbor's on the evening of June 18 when he stopped to run his hand over a swath of orange tape staked along the property line two lots north of his 15th Avenue house.
Hopeton's mother, Antoinette, had been watching her son from the family's front porch. She saw his frightened expression as he turned back toward the street. Just as he began to run, she heard two shots.
Police released Harrison Furlow, identified in police reports as the man who fired the shots, despite accounts from neighbors who said they saw him shoot at Hopeton. There was no way to know for sure if the 70-year-old had pointed the gun at Hopeton before he fired, police spokesman George Kajta said at the time.
Hopeton's father, Hopeton Johnson Sr., insisted that the case be referred to the State Attorney's Office. But on the day Furlow was to appear in court, he was a no-show, Collins said.
Meanwhile, Hopeton, now a fourth-grader at Lakewood Elementary, continues to struggle, she said.
"For maybe a month or two, we were getting calls from the school every day," Collins said. "He was getting in fights. He was just angry."
The calls stopped about a month ago, but Hopeton still won't sleep without the lights on, she said. He is reluctant to stay at his parents' house, preferring to stay with his grandparents.
"He wasn't like that before," Collins said. "He's just having a hard time dealing with it."
