Johns, 42, served six stints in the state prison system for a handful of convictions out of Pinellas County.TREASURE ISLAND (FOX 13) -
A 42-year-old man with an extensive criminal record was shot dead early Saturday morning by a pair of Pinellas County Sheriff's deputies at the Trail's End Motel and Apartment complex in Treasure Island.
Gregory James Johns was armed with a knife when he lunged at the law enforcement officers just after 5:30 a.m.
The suspect was being sought on sexual battery charges involving a minor child at the time of his death.
Detectives with the St. Petersburg Police Department were also actively pursuing Johns on false imprisonment and armed robbery accusations.
According to a Pinellas County Sheriff's Office report deputies received information that the suspect was at the Treasure Island hotel along the beach. John's room was isolated and deputies knocked on the door and issued commands for the suspect to come out.
John's would not comply and the deputies forcibly entered room 224. The suspect hid in the bathroom and when deputies entered that room Johns, armed with a knife, went towards them in a threatening manner.
Two deputies, Claudio Dimundo and Eric Turner, opened fire on Johns. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Dimundo, 30, and Turner, 34, have been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation, standard procedure in any deputy-involved shooting.
The deceased was no stranger to law enforcement with an arrest record that goes back three decades. Johns served six stints in state prison for a variety of convictions out of Pinellas County.
PCSO Detectives issued a warrant for John's arrest on Friday after it came to light the victim in the sexual battery charges was pregnant.
A search of the Florida Department of Corrections database indicates Johns was last released from state prison in July 2009 after serving 11 months for a probation violation.
