Court records showed Brandon Allen was barred from having a weapon before prosecutors said he shot his ex-wife outside her home.
BOULDER, Colo. — A protection order barred Brandon David Allen from possessing a weapon before he shot his ex-wife in a Longmont driveway, a fact that became central to the Boulder County case that ended with a 41-year prison sentence.
Allen, 48, was sentenced Monday by Boulder County District Court Judge Thomas F. Mulvahill after pleading guilty to charges tied to the March 20, 2024, shooting of Nicki Douglass-Johansen. Prosecutors said Allen opened fire while Douglass-Johansen sat in her station wagon with the couple’s 7-year-old twins in the backseat. The children were not hit, but investigators said they saw the shooting and feared they might be next. The case drew attention not only because of the violence in front of children, but also because court documents showed a protection order was already in place when Allen had the gun.
Authorities said Allen went to Douglass-Johansen’s home in the 1500 block of Goshawk Drive and fired twice into the vehicle. Douglass-Johansen was in the driver’s seat. Her two children were behind her and had been preparing to go to the store with their mother, according to an arrest affidavit. One child later told investigators their father shot their mother twice. The child said he and his sister got down in the seat because they did not know whether Allen would shoot them too. After the gunfire, Allen left in his vehicle. The children rolled down a window and yelled for help, according to the affidavit.
The affidavit said Douglass-Johansen’s mother was upstairs inside the home when she heard two shots. She looked outside and saw Allen near the rear passenger side of the green vehicle with a gun in his hand, investigators wrote. She told officers Allen turned, walked to his own vehicle and left. The mother also told police that Douglass-Johansen and the twins had lived at the Longmont home for six years and that Allen never lived there. The children were uninjured, but the affidavit captured their shock after the attack. They described Allen as evil and wondered aloud whether their mother, who had been shot in the head area, would remember them.
Allen called 911 as officers searched for him. He told a dispatcher, “I think I just killed my ex-wife,” according to the affidavit. He also said he had fired a gun at her. The call did not end the danger, authorities said. Officers later found Allen in his vehicle along Highway 36 near Lyons, but he drove away as they prepared to take him into custody. Police said the pursuit included attempts to stop him and gunfire from Allen’s vehicle. Officers eventually forced the vehicle to stop. Allen got out but did not comply with commands, according to the affidavit. A police dog bit him before officers arrested him.
Investigators said Allen made more statements after the arrest, including repeated claims that he had shot and killed his ex-wife. He also claimed he had told people the shooting was going to happen and that he heard voices, according to the affidavit. Officers reported signs of possible intoxication. They wrote that Allen had slurred speech, bloodshot eyes and an odor of alcohol on his breath. Inside the vehicle, they found two empty Pabst Blue Ribbon cans, two empty shooters and four butane cans. The protection order issue remained part of the case record because Allen was not allowed to possess a gun at the time of the shooting.
Douglass-Johansen survived, but the injuries were severe. She was shot in the neck and thigh. She later described a bullet path that doctors believed tore through one of her carotid arteries, moved across her neck and shattered at her jaw. Her treatment included more than eight hours of open heart surgery and more than five hours of reconstructive jaw surgery, according to reports of her recovery. She also suffered strokes, permanent blindness in her right eye, nerve damage, vocal cord damage, bullet fragments in her neck and lip, and continuing narrowing in a carotid artery caused by scar tissue. She was hospitalized for about two weeks before being released April 3, 2024.
The criminal case moved through several stages before the sentencing. Allen was initially accused of crimes that included attempted first-degree murder, vehicular eluding, child abuse, possession of a firearm, violation of a protection order, prohibited use of a weapon and driving under the influence. In January 2025, he entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. He later reached a plea agreement in February 2026. Under that agreement, he pleaded guilty to attempted murder, vehicular eluding, two counts of negligent child abuse, criminal mischief between $20,000 and $100,000, and one violent crime sentence enhancer. The deal allowed prosecutors to ask for a long prison term.
Mulvahill imposed the maximum punishment allowed under the plea deal. The sentence included 32 years in prison for attempted murder, three years for vehicular eluding and six years for criminal mischief, all to run consecutively for a total of 41 years. Allen also received 240 days in jail, 10 years of probation and credit for 775 days already served. Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty called the shooting “an outrageous act of domestic violence” and said Douglass-Johansen was lucky to be alive. He said the courage of Douglass-Johansen and the children helped lead to the outcome in court.
The courtroom record closed with sharp words from the judge and a brief apology from Allen. Mulvahill told Allen that anything he claimed to have done for his children was erased when he shot their mother. Allen said, “I’m sorry,” and then said he had become “the monster.” The sentence sends Allen to the Colorado Department of Corrections. If he is released after serving the prison term, he will be subject to five years of parole.
Author note: Last updated May 25, 2026.