DAUPHIN COUNTY, Pa. — The Dauphin County District Attorney, Lower Paxton Police Department, and Pa. State Police Heritage Affairs Section provided an update on the death investigation of 16-year-old Justin Johnson.
Dauphin County District Attorney Fran Chardo, Lower Paxton Township Director of Public Safety Adam Kosheba, and representatives from the State Police Heritage Affairs Section each spoke at the press conference.
Kosheba provided a timeline for the events leading up to and after Justin's death on April 26th. According to Kosheba, Justin, along with 22 other students was playing a game similar to Senior Assassin, using the Life360 app. The app is downloaded to a phone and allows users to track the location of family and friends.
“The rules that we know of it thus far are that the tag “it” must be witnessed by three to five people in the game or it must be recorded on video,” said Kosheba.
Police said their investigation revealed that messages had been exchanged through the app since April 22. During the press conference, a video of Justin and his classmates could be seen playing the game during school hours.
Kosheba said that in the surveillance video on April 26, four boys, all aged 16 can be seen chasing Justin. Police also identified the object in the video as a white and green water gun.
The timeline also revealed Justin's last communication was through a Snapchat group chat that said, "You were never going to catch me."
Johnson was pronounced dead at Hershey Medical Center on April 26, after his father found him unresponsive on the floor of his home.
According to the Dauphin County Coroner, Johnson's official cause of death was complications from sickle cell disease. The coroner also identified cardiomyopathy as another significant condition.
The coroner also ruled the death natural.
At a press conference on Wednesday, Nicholas Johnson, a lawyer representing the Johnson family said a popular game “Senior Assassination” may have led up to Johnson's death.
Nicholas said that they have been open and transparent with the Lower Paxton Township Police Department and the Dauphin County District Attorney's Office. While the investigation is ongoing, Nicholas said he does not want this case to be an “open and shut” case.
“There are too many questions out there that need to be answered, not only for Mr. Johnson and his family, but for the community as well,” said Nicholas.
Law enforcement said at a press conference Friday that the investigation is ongoing.