Last summer, a retired police officer father gunned down his teen influencer daughter’s alleged stalker who showed up armed at their home in Naples, Florida. Now Ava Majury’s family has spoken out about the terrifying incident during an interview with NBC’s Gabe Gutierrez.
Per WFLA, the 15-year-old TikToker became popular after sharing lip sync performances on the video-sharing platform, where she has more than 1.2 million followers and over 300,000 followers on Instagram. But one of her followers allegedly was dangerously obsessed with her.
Eric Rohan Johnson, 18, would allegedly send Ava hundreds of messages on social media, per TODAY. According to the rising star’s family, he even paid her classmates to get information on her. Speaking to the New York Times, Ava’s parents said they allowed their daughter to sell two selfies for $300 to him. But then he began asking her for explicit pictures.
“I had an opportunity to actually text this person and said ‘Hey, she’s a minor and you need to not contact her anymore,’ and we notified the authorities,” recalled the girl’s father Rob Majury, 51. But even this failed to dissuade Johnson who arrived at their doorsteps with a gun and began firing through the front door last summer.
“Somebody had attempted to breach the door with I presume, the shotgun,” shared Rob of the shocking encounter. “All I remember was, I heard it, I felt it in my chest, and I looked up, and there was a hole in my door from the fragments.” At that point, Ava’s mother immediately dialed 911 while her husband went outside to chase Johnson. However, he tripped and fell which allowed the suspect to flee the scene.
Fully understanding the gravity of the situation, the ex-cop grabbed his gun and waited for authorities to arrive. But before they could reach the address, Johnson returned with a shotgun, refusing to drop it. “At that point, I took action and neutralized the threat,” said Rob of his actions. Following the shooting, police officers revealed that a man had been fatally shot during a home invasion and that no one had been arrested at the time.
“The subject was most likely a stalker that resulted from her daughter’s extensive social media involvement,” reported the Collier County Sheriff’s Office. Following the traumatic shooting, “Everything has changed,” according to Ava’s mother as the family moved and began homeschooling Ava. “More security on our end, more reviews with accounts, more checking in. Just trying to be normal for Ava,” added the teen’s father.
Cover image source: YouTube Screenshot | Inside Edition