photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

The Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Center is pictured in March of 2022. The center houses the Douglas County District Court and other county services.

A Lawrence man was ordered on Thursday to stand trial for allegedly threatening a group of teens with a firearm, which the man later reportedly said was a BB gun.

The man, Zachary Ryan Johnston, 38, is charged in Douglas County District Court with two felony counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, according to charging documents. Judge Amy Hanley ordered him to stand trial after two teenage women testified about the incident, which occurred on Sept. 7, 2024, in the 2200 block of Harper Street.

The women testified that they were smoking marijuana that day with Johnston’s teenage son and three other teens in Johnston’s shed.

One woman recalled that one of Johnston’s teenage daughters came into the shed and asked them to be quieter. Then, she said, Johnston himself came out to the shed, stumbling and slurring his words, and told the group, “Get the hell out of my shed.”

The woman said she and her friends then left and went across the street to her house. While they were standing outside of her home, the woman testified, Johnston came out of his house holding a long gun and said, “Get the [expletive] away from my house.”

Someone yelled that Johnston had a gun, the woman testified, and she saw him lifting the gun to point it at them as they fled into her home.

“He raised the gun and we ran into my house. I was afraid for my life,” the woman testified.

She said it was apparent to her that Johnston was drunk, and she did not know whether he would shoot at them or not, noting that Johnston’s son was with them at the time.

The second woman said that when she first saw Johnston come out to confront them, she couldn’t tell what he was holding.

“I only realized it was a gun when he pointed it at us,” she said. “I was terrified, scared for my life. He was drunk.”

Lawrence police officer Frank Wolfe said he questioned Johnston later that night about the incident, and Johnston said that he did tell the teens to get away from his property and that he was carrying a gun. But Wolfe said Johnston also told him that it was a BB gun that was not loaded.

Wolfe said he did not personally recover the gun, but Assistant District Attorney Adam Carey said that a BB gun was later recovered by another officer.

Hanley scheduled Johnston to be arraigned on the charges on March 26. He is currently free on a $4,000 own-recognizance bond, meaning he was not required to pay any money to be released from jail.