Police: Standoff ends with man asking for mental health help
May 21, 2018, 10:44 PM | Updated: 10:44 pm
TAYLORSVILLE, Utah — Police said an apparent family argument erupted in gunfire Monday, leading to a SWAT situation that ultimately ended with a man’s request for mental health help.
Unified Police Lt. Brian Lohrke said as officers arrived to the home near 4100 West and 6550 South, they heard gunshots coming from the house.
That drew an even larger police response, including a SWAT team, a mobile command center and multiple armored vehicles.
“He was wanting some mental health help,” Lohrke said.
Lohrke said police agreed to connect the 46-year-old man with that help, and that ultimately led to the man being taken into custody, and the situation being resolved.
“This is the resolution we want in this type of case,” Sheriff Rosie Rivera said. “We want to make sure everybody is safe, everybody in the neighborhood and also anyone that was involved in this situation. This is the best turn-out we can ask for, and this is what we work hard for.”
Police said they have increasingly found themselves in situations involving mental health issues, leading them to bolster training among officers.
“(We have) critical incident-trained officers,” Lohrke said. “We also have another group called MCOT (Mobile Crisis Outreach Team), a mobile response unit to help us out with any type of mental health crisis.”
The man was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on suspicion of aggravated assault, discharge of a firearm and criminal mischief.
