Man knocks on door and is shot dead, VA officials say. ‘He did nothing wrong’
A Virginia man knocked on the wrong apartment door while trying to visit someone and was shot dead by the stranger who lived there, officials said.
Now, the man convicted of shooting him, 74-year-old Leroy King, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison with another 20 suspended on conditions of 20 years of uniform good behavior and three years of supervised probation, the Office of the Virginia Commonwealth’s Attorney for the City of Norfolk said in a July 23 news release.
Attorney information for King was not immediately available.
According to officials, 38-year-old Albert Johnson mistakenly knocked on King’s door at about 5:30 p.m. June 20, 2023. It was the second time he knocked on the wrong door, located one apartment unit away from his intended address, McClatchy News reported.
King shouted at Johnson from inside his apartment, then went outside and shot him twice in the neck and torso, killing him, officials said.
“Mr. King had no right to shoot the victim, and, both at his age and with his prior conduct, he absolutely should have known better,” Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi said in the release.
According to officials, this was not the first time King was involved in a shooting. He was convicted in 2003 of shooting a neighbor who lived, officials said.
During his July 11 sentencing hearing, King repeatedly denied his guilt and wrongly said he was “legally entitled to shoot the victim,” according to officials.
King’s refusal to see he is at fault makes him a “continuing danger to the public” and justifies his sentence, Fatehi said.
“I extend my condolences to Mr. Johnson’s family for losing their loved one in such a senseless way. He did nothing wrong,” Fatehi said.
In an online obituary, Johnson was remembered as having a “captivating spirit” and a “larger-than-life personality.”
“Albert will be remembered for all the heart he shared with his family and friends, for the laughter and joy he brought to the lives (of) all who knew him,” the obituary read.
This story was originally published July 24, 2025 at 11:54 AM with the headline "Man knocks on door and is shot dead, VA officials say. ‘He did nothing wrong’."
