I don’t know if there is anyone braver on earth than a parent who escapes an abusive situation with their children. Making the conscious decision to leave for the sake mental and physical health is one of the most selfless and best decisions a parent can make. Domestic abuse victims are regularly plagued with fear and unwarranted guilt, so successfully escaping is nothing short of miraculous. But the sad reality is that for many abuse victims who are parents, the torment doesn’t necessarily end with the leaving.
If they are in a situation where they have to legally coparent, they are routinely forced to interact with their former abuser. Sometimes, even if they are estranged, the threat of violence still exists if they live in the same town or nearby.
A Longmont, Colorado, mom lived relatively close to her abusive ex, and it nearly ended her life.
An arrest affidavit stated that in March 2024, Brandon Allen, 48, called 911 and told dispatchers, “I think I just killed my ex-wife,” according to Law & Crime. He had just finished firing off rounds into the car where his ex, Nicki Douglass-Johansen, and their 7-year-old twins were sitting in the driveway of her home. The bullet cut through her neck, hitting her carotid artery, and “bounced all around” before shattering her jaw. She also was shot in the thigh.
“Two kids were in the backseat of this vehicle when the shooting occurred, but were uninjured,” the affidavit reads, per Law & Crime. “[One of the children] said he and his sister were in the back seat of the vehicle about to go to the store with their mom.”
The boy claimed “their dad … shot their mom twice,” and they “both got down in their seat because they did not know if their dad was going to shoot them as well,” the affidavit adds.
Allen left and the children rolled down the window and screamed for someone to call 911.
“[The children] commented their dad is evil and said something along the lines of, ‘Mom got shot in the head, do you think she will remember us?'” the affidavit claims, per Law & Crime.
According to 9 News at the time, Douglass-Johansen’s mother, Martha Johansen heard the two shots fired from the upstairs bedroom of the home.
Allen led police on a brief pursuit before being apprehended.
“Officers located two empty PBRs and 2 empty shooters in the vehicle along with four butane cans,” the affidavit reads, per Law & Crime. “Brandon was observed to be slurring his words, had bloodshot eyes, and had the odor of an unknown alcoholic beverage on his breath.”
Luckily, the mom survived the horrific ordeal.
In May 2026, Allen was sentenced to 41 years in prison by Boulder County District Court Judge Thomas F. Mulvahill after pleading guilty for attempted murder, vehicular eluding, child abuse, crime of violence, and criminal mischief.
“This horrific, brutal shooting was an outrageous act of domestic violence,” Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty told Law & Crime in a statement. “The victim is lucky to be alive. It is because of her courage, and that of her kids, that she is alive today, and the defendant received this lengthy sentence to state prison. Based on his actions and lack of genuine remorse, the defendant certainly deserves this sentence.”
