Hostage survivor looks back on 1994 ordeal - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

A shocking crime that captivated the city's attention still haunts a family 18 years later.

Justin Johnson calls his life a good life, shared with his middle school sweetheart Lacy, consumed by their two hard-charging, boisterous boys and a quiet for now, 10-week-old baby girl.

"I'm in a good place now. I've got a good family, good people around me. I couldn't ask for anything better," Johnson said.

That from a man who's life as a little boy, was measured in inches. Justin was about a year older than his oldest son, when he came very close to losing his life in one of the city's biggest, most senseless, and tragic hostage takings.

"I remember going into the restaurant for breakfast, sit down. Next thing, I hear a loud noise," Johnson said.

It was a Denny's restaurant. The loud noise was gunfire.

"I remember my dad taking me out. There was blood everywhere," Johnson said.

Some of that blood was his own. The five-year-old boy was shot through the face.

Eighteen years later, Johnson sat down with Eyewitness News reporter Rich Van Wyk to see what happened that day - and what he should tell his children.

"It's kind of scary, really," he said.

Two brothers, drifters from Wyoming, sat down to eat, then decided to rob the place. They took dozens of customers and workers hostage and sprayed them with gunfire, killing one man and wounding three other people.

Hours into the standoff, Johnson's mother Amy and seven-year-old sister Holly were released with other women and children. By then, doctors were already working on Justin. Steven Johnson, who was then engaged to Justin's mother, bulldozed past the gunmen right after they stopped shooting.

"Seeing it makes it more real. He actually put his life in danger to save mine," Justin said. "It takes something more than toughness to risk your life for somebody. That's more than toughness."

Seeing the six-hour ordeal unfold, hostages being released and reunited with loved ones, brothers Ronald and Thomas Mathisen arrested and prosecuted was a scary revelation for Justin. He never realized how much he, his family and so many others endured.

"It's hard to watch. That actually happened," he said. "It's a miracle. It's amazing I actually survived."

He survived the shooting, then the numerous surgeries to his face, jaw and what was left of his teeth. He put up with more operations, kids' hurtful stares and teasing. To this day, Justin struggles with dentures and quietly downplays his visible and invisible scars.

"I am not going to let it ruin my life. I would rather play with the kids and just be happy than always constantly asking why," he said.

It's that strength and determination his wife Lacy admires.

"Yeah, even when I first found out about it, he made it sound like it was no big deal," Lacy Johnson said.

But the couple's oldest son, Mason, is now asking questions and Justin is looking for ways to explain. Seeing the whole picture and all the lives changed that day, he says, will help.

"It's just not about me. I wasn't the only one. Other people got hurt, too," he said. "It was everybody. It helps me to know people cared. I wish there was a way I could thank everybody who helped. I wish there was a way I could."

Eighteen years later, Justin is still asking questions and finding answers by thinking of others, surrounding himself with a loving family, and looking to what's coming next in life - and not dwelling on what lies behind.

Ronald and Thomas Mathisen pleaded guilty to avoid the death penalty and they are now in prison with no chance of parole.