Suspect Pleads Guilty In Officer, K-9 Shooting

Tarrion Johnson has admitted in federal court that he shot at a federal law enforcement team and wounded a service canine during a 2022 arrest operation on Chicago’s Northwest Side. The 23-year-old Chicago man pleaded guilty on July 20, 2026, to attempted murder of a federal officer and to using and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois. Prosecutors said the shooting happened on June 2, 2022, as members of the Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force tried to arrest him at an apartment building in the 5200 block of West Belmont Avenue. U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey has set sentencing for Nov. 17, 2026. ### Who is Tarrion Johnson, and what did he plead guilty to? Tarrion Johnson, 23, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to two federal counts: attempted murder of a federal officer and using and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, prosecutors said. The Justice Department said the underlying crime involved the use of a deadly weapon and the infliction of bodily injury. (justice.gov) The plea was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Ryan Whalen, the acting special agent in charge of the FBI’s Chicago field office. Federal prosecutors said the case was investigated with help from the U.S. Marshals Service and the Chicago Police Department. (justice.gov) ### What happened in the Belmont Cragin confrontation? June 2, 2022, is the date prosecutors gave for the confrontation at the Belmont Cragin apartment building. The Justice Department said task force members had gathered there to execute an Illinois state arrest warrant for Johnson on attempted murder and attempted robbery charges. After officers announced themselves as police with an arrest warrant and entered an apartment unit, they encountered Johnson holding a firearm, prosecutors said. (justice.gov) Authorities said Johnson ignored commands to drop the weapon and fired at law enforcement. Prosecutors said he shot a Senior Inspector U.S. Marshal and a service canine during the encounter, and also struck a Special Deputy U.S. Marshal’s ballistic shield before fleeing the residence and being quickly arrested. (justice.gov) ### Which officer and dog were hit? The Justice Department’s release said a Senior Inspector U.S. Marshal was shot during the operation, but it did not name the officer. Prosecutors also said the service canine was shot during the same exchange of gunfire. Television reports published after the plea said the marshal was shot in the hand and the dog was struck in the upper body. (justice.gov) Those details appeared in local coverage by ABC7 Chicago and WGN, which cited court and prosecutorial accounts of the 2022 shooting. ### Why were federal officers trying to arrest him in the first place? (justice.gov) An Illinois state court had issued an arrest warrant for Johnson before the 2022 operation, according to federal prosecutors. The warrant was tied to separate state charges of attempted murder and attempted robbery, the Justice Department said. (wgntv.com) The federal case that ended in Johnson’s guilty plea focused on the shooting of the federal officer and the service canine during the execution of that warrant. The plea does not erase the earlier state allegations; it resolves the federal charges described in the Justice Department release. ### What happens at sentencing? (justice.gov) John Robert Blakey, the U.S. district judge handling the case, scheduled Johnson’s sentencing hearing for Nov. 17, 2026. The Justice Department release did not specify in its summary what sentence prosecutors will seek, but the firearm count to which Johnson pleaded guilty carries serious federal penalties. (justice.gov) Assistant U.S. Attorneys Timothy Chapman and Branka Cimesa are representing the government, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. The next public milestone in the case is the November sentencing hearing in federal court in Chicago. (justice.gov) (justice.gov)