A man was shot and killed early yesterday morning in central Goochland County after he allegedly entered an unlocked mobile home and tussled with the owner, authorities said.

Adam Stone, the homeowner, called the Goochland Sheriff's Office just after 3 a.m. to report that he'd shot a man with a 12-gauge shotgun.

Sheriff's deputies responded to the 2300 block of Grape Ridge Court off Dogtown Road, where Stone told investigators the intruder had entered the bedroom where he and his girlfriend were sleeping before the struggle took place.

When deputies arrived, they found the body of Joseph Clifford Johnson, 36, of the 900 block of North 30th Street in Richmond, inside the bedroom with a fatal gunshot wound to the neck.

Johnson's body has been transported to the State Medical Examiner's Office in Richmond for an autopsy. The investigation is ongoing, Sheriff James L. Agnew said.

"The obvious thing that needs to be decided is if this is a justifiable homicide," Agnew said.

No arrests or charges have been made in connection with the shooting as of last night.

It was the second homicide in Goochland County so far this year and only the third since 2005.
Contact Wesley P. Hester at (804) 649-6976 or whester@timesdispatch.com.