Armed Robberies, Random Gunfire Lead To Police Chase With Dramatic End
Apr 8, 2019, 6:27 PM | Updated: 6:28 pm
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — Terrifying moments along State Street in Salt Lake as a driver armed with a rifle sticks it out the window and starts randomly firing away.
The driver, Harold Vincent Robinson, 37, was being chased by police after investigators say he had robbed a Holiday Oil gas station in Taylorsville and a 7-Eleven in the Millcreek area.
“I seen the truck and a gun like that big shooting at police,” said Phillip Wesley to KSL. “He was just shooting and he was shooting at me too. I just ducked down. I was scared.”
And he wasn’t alone.
“Just pop, pop, pop,” said Toni Perez about what she saw and heard along State Street. “I ran into the store and the owner was like hey was that shots fired? It’s crazy. Cops took over the whole road.”
At the intersection of 3300 South and State Street, as the truck was heading south, an officer heading east bound on 33rd South barely clipped the back end of the truck causing Robinson to lose control and crash into a business at 11:15 a.m.
That’s when a hail of gun fire could be heard as officers converged on the truck and open fire, killing the suspect.
“Cops did a great job. Did a great job.” -witness Ryan Bowen here with @TVDanRascon pic.twitter.com/Z9hOKWQMWs
— Mary Richards (@kslmrichards) April 8, 2019
“Sounded like fireworks going off and they just blew the truck away,” said Ryan Bowen who witnessed it all unfold. “I’ve never heard that many shots that fast there were at least 30.”
Investigators said one Unified Police Department officer was slightly hit from a bullet that ricocheted. He was not taken to the hospital.
“This could have been drastically different. I applaud the officers that responded this day and ran into the face of danger,” said Chief Mike Brown with Salt Lake City P.D.