A gun recovered after a shootout with Mobile police was reported stolen from a Mobile police officer’s home in April, according to court documents.
UPDATE (4:35 p.m.): Chief Lawrence Battiste said the weapon was a personal firearm, not a service weapon, and had been stolen from the home of a recruit who is no longer with the department.
Court records identify the suspect as Johnny Vail, who was arrested in connection with the shootout and also faces federal gun charges — felon in possession of a firearm and possession of a stolen firearm. According to a federal complaint, an officer familiar with Vail as a drug dealer was with Andrew Lee Mitchell when police tried to stop Vail on Duval Street in the RV Taylor community. Mitchell allegedly fired a Springfield .40-caliber handgun at officers as they exited their vehicle; police returned fire, striking Mitchell twice and Vail at least once.
Vail dropped a Glock as he ran into an abandoned apartment and surrendered about two hours later, according to the complaint. He told police he had been given the gun in May 2018 after leaving prison. When officers ran the serial number, it came back stolen from a residential burglary of a Mobile police officer’s home on April 26, 2019.
Vail had previously served prison time after pleading guilty to an obstruction of justice charge in 2017, and court records show he gave a fake name at arrest to avoid prosecution.