School Resource Officer Attacked, Receives Serious Injures

RIVERTON, Utah — Authorities are investigating after a man attacked a school resource officer with a piece of wood, striking the officer.

The officer had approached the suspect, a 21-year-old man who wasn’t supposed to be on school property.

The suspect, according to police, the man struck the officer in the head.

The officer, despite receiving serious injury, was able to deploy his taser and apprehend the suspect.

Breaking: students in disbelief their school resource office was attacked by a guy with a board officer ended tazing the man @KSL5TV at 5 and 6 pic.twitter.com/zHwZgRKd9M

— Dan Rascon (@TVDanRascon) April 29, 2019

“The gentleman took a piece of wood up to the throat of the officer and was trying to choke him out,” a witness, who was still shaken up and did not want to be identified, told KSL TV’s Dan Rascon.  “When I finally saw the officer, his face was pretty bloody. He’s going to have black eyes, I’m sure. His face was beaten up pretty good.”

A spokesperson with the Jordan School District told KSL TV no students or school staff were involved in the incident.

Police say the school principal witnessed the assault from outside and called for help.

Kalen Cook of Bluffdale was booked into Salt Lake County Jail on charges including aggravated assault on a police officer and resisting arrest after the incident, according to Unified Police.

The witness who spoke to KSL TV said Cook was unwilling to leave school property.

“He never said why he was there or what he was wanting to do, but he was very hesitant about wanting to leave the property. (The officer) Repeatedly asked him to get on the ground and he wouldn’t get on the ground,” she said. “He wasn’t cooperating with the officer at all who was doing everything he could to try and diffuse the situation.”

His charges also included one count of possession of a controlled substance.

KSL TV’s Dan Rascon contributed to this report