About that night

COEUR d'ALENE - Adam Johnson was certain he was knocking on heaven's door three months ago.

That was just the beginning of 12 days of hell.

"I thought I was done," he said. "Once the clip was empty and I let go, they continued to stomp me ... and then I was out. I thought I was done for."

The young Coeur d'Alene businessman was beaten unconscious early in the morning of Dec. 27 by a group of six to eight assailants who punched and kicked him before he opened fire with a legal concealed weapon, sending two of the assailants to hospitals with serious injuries.

Johnson, 26, is nearly recovered from the injuries, but said Tuesday he still has vision problems, and there are still traces of bruises under his eyes. However, the healing process is more than physical.

"I look at every day as a gift," he said. "I don't look at things the same. I definitely don't look at every day as just a big grind."

Johnson was confronted by a group of men he had earlier been involved with in a verbal altercation at a downtown bar on the night of the fateful incident.

"I was walking back to my car," he said. "I thought I would never see them again."

Confronted and attacked, he drew the .40-caliber handgun he was licensed to carry and emptied the clip, sending Brandon Burgess, 25, to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle with a gunshot wound to the abdomen and Bradley Phillips, 25, to Kootenai Medical Center with a bullet wound in his knee.

The Moses Lake men were among a group of six to eight who Johnson said punched and kicked him.

Johnson, a partner in Convertec Business Solutions, spent 12 days in jail before the grand jury dismissed the charges after hearing from witnesses to the incident.

"Everything happens for a reason," he said. "Going from where you're vilifying a guy based on testimony from people who weren't really witnesses, but participated in the act, to now this really happened, in the span of 12 days.

"I knew in my heart the truth would prevail. What was disconcerting was how long it would take. A trial could have taken a long time."

The reaction was mixed, with some condemning Johnson for carrying a weapon into a bar, others supporting his right to self defense. Existing clients of Convertec, a voice-over-Internet provider, were largely supportive, and as far as he can tell he lost no business as a result of the incident.

"You never really realize how many friends you have ... when you're facing a life crossroads like that," he said. "I was just so grateful, for so many people in support, many letters from people I haven't seen in so long."

Partner Shane Freeman, who handles the technical end while Johnson tends to the business and sales side, kept the operation running smoothly. But there have been some changes, one being the closure of Convertec's Sherman Avenue office.

"I've had my ups and downs, just like any business we're seeing our share of challenges, absolutely," Johnson said. "I think what's important for me and for us is how we react to this. Are we folding, absolutely not. Are we restructuring in order to make sure we stay in business and remain profitable, absolutely. That's really what made the decision to shut Coeur d'Alene. It was a lot more space than we needed."

Convertec, which is coming up on five years in business, still has office space in the Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce, and will move into the new Post Falls Chamber of Commerce building when it opens in April.

"We do business with both of them heavily," Johnson said. "We are not only their provider for phone service, we are also their tech support provider."

While it is easy to look back and think of what could have been done differently, he said now he is more tuned in to the future.

"When something like this takes place, some things are life altering, it is how we react," he said. "You can dwell on it or I can do what I've chose to do, and that is move forward. I want to grow my business and continue to serve the community and continue to be the person I was before that incident. That is what I think is more important."

But the memory will not fade quickly.

"I wish it had never happened," he said. "Whether or not it is anybody's opinion I was in the right or not, people got hurt, including myself."

He is also less interested in the nightlife than he once was.

"Before, I would go out and enjoy time with friends," he said. "Now, there is a fear there."

But he no longer packs a concealed weapon.

"I don't think it's appropriate right now," he said. "There are perceptions and feelings, a subset of people uncomfortable with that. I am just trying to be sensitive."

Johnson is still facing a civil suit from the two men who were shot, but believes the criminal dismissal will limit their case. But the violence left him with a sense of mortality.

"Life is short, and in the blink of an eye, just like that night, it can be taken away from you," he said.