Adams County Defendant Sentenced to 192 Years in Prison for Shooting Man and His Mother Inside Store

Brighton, CO — Today, District Attorney Brian Mason is announcing the prison sentence for Johnny McCaslin, 51, related to the Dollar General Store shooting in Adams County on January 26, 2021, that ultimately resulted in two Attempted Murder convictions in Adams County District Court on March 18, 2024. Last week, an Adams County District Court Judge sentenced the defendant to 192 years in the Department of Corrections following a jury trial on the habitual counts.   

On January 26, 2021, at approximately 9:22am, McCaslin and his girlfriend were shopping at the Dollar Store near West 53rd Place and Sheridan Boulevard in Adams County. Following their purchase, without any provocation, McCaslin pulled out his handgun and attempted to fire it point-blank at a mentally disabled adult male. Initially, the gun did not go off, however, McCaslin quickly fixed the firearm issue and proceeded to shoot at the male several times. McCaslin then turned his attention to the victim's mother, who was in a wheelchair, and shot her several times as well. The defendant fired upon the initial victim again before leaving the store in his vehicle. The entire shooting was caught on surveillance video, and in a Mirandized interview after the incident, McCaslin admitted to the shooting.  

The male victim was shot once in the stomach and needed several feet of his internal organs removed during emergency surgery to avoid death due to internal bleeding. The female victim was shot in the thigh, leg, and foot, and also would have died if not for the emergency team at Denver Health.   

On March 18, 2024, an Adams County Jury convicted McCaslin of two counts of Attempted Murder in the First Degree, Assault in the First Degree (At-Risk Person), First-Degree Assault, and several Violent Crime sentence enhancers.  McCaslin was found by a second jury on November 7, 2024, to be a habitual criminal and found he was previously convicted of Burglary of a Dwelling on six separate occasions and was on parole at the time of this incident. Ultimately, the Judge found the defendant guilty of those additional crimes and sentenced the defendant to 192 years in prison, which is the mandatory minimum sentence for all of the offenses.   

"These horrific shootings are absolutely unconscionable," said District Attorney Brian Mason. "This defendant ambushed two at-risk individuals, one of whom was in a wheelchair, in broad daylight, in the middle of a store, for no reason at all – and shot them multiple times, leaving them for dead. It truly shocks the conscience. If not for the amazing medical team at Denver Health, these two victims would not be alive today. I'm thankful to my team, the Adams County Sheriff's Office, the Denver Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the juries in both trials, and the judge for ensuring that this defendant is off the streets. I'm certain our community is safer as a result of these convictions and this sentence."  

Senior Lead Deputy District Attorney Joseph H. Vandeven and Chief Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Prince led the prosecution of this case.    

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