Workplace threats land local man on probation

A Jefferson City man was placed on three years of supervised probation after entering an Alford plea in a case where authorities said he made threats to come back to his former workplace and shoot people in January 2013.

Oscar Johnson, 27, entered the plea to a charge of unlawful possession of a firearm. A charge of making a terroristic threat was dismissed.

An Alford plea is a guilty plea where the defendant does not admit to the criminal act and asserts innocence. However, in entering an Alford plea, the defendant admits the evidence the prosecution has would likely persuade a judge or jury to find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

A Jefferson City Police Department probable cause statement shows Johnson had been terminated from Capitol Plaza Hotel for threatening to harm co-workers on Jan 18, 2013.

Written statements from several co-workers showed Johnson had threatened multiple times to "air out the place."

Later that day, Johnson, a convicted felon on a charge of second-degree burglary, was at an apartment in the 1000 block of Elizabeth Street where he apparently had a gun in his right front pocket and it somehow discharged, leaving him with a wound to his mid-section.