WASHINGTON COUNTY — Bail was set Thursday at $1 million for a 41-year-old rural Centralia man charged in Washington County court with firing shots at police officers Tuesday morning at his home on Irvington Road.

Nathan Johnson has been held in the Washington County Jail since shortly after his arrest Tuesday morning when he surrendered to police following a standoff with state, county, and local law enforcement.

According to Illinois State Police, at approximately 1:20 a.m., Tuesday, officers from the DuQuoin Police Department were investigating a reckless driving complaint of a suspect later identified as Johnson, when they were reportedly shot at multiple times.  One officer returned fire, and a pursuit ensued.  During the pursuit Johnson continued shooting at officers and the pursuit ended when he reportedly struck the DuQuoin police chief’s squad car.

Pursuing officers lost sight of Johnson’s vehicle and it was later located on U.S. Route 51 in rural Washington County by officers with the Centralia and Wamac Police Departments.

Johnson again fired at officers striking a Centralia police car as he drove to his residence, jumped onto a four-wheeler and fled into a wooded area.

After a standoff, and phone negotiations with Centralia police, Johnson surrendered and was taken into custody.  There were no injuries reported during the entire incident.

Johnson first appeared in court Tuesday afternoon on a Class X felony charge of aggravated discharge of a firearm at a police officer. At that time he indicated he would be hiring a private attorney and wanted his attorney present for the setting of bail.

He appeared in court Thursday morning with Centralia attorney Eddie Veltman and bail was set at $1 million. He’s next due in court September 18 for a preliminary hearing.

According to ISP, the investigation is ongoing and spans multiple jurisdictions.  Further charges against Johnson are anticipated.