Suspect Hurt During Officer-Involved Critical Incident In Salt Lake

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The suspect in possession of a stolen vehicle was taken to the hospital after an officer fired on the suspect. Details about what led to the shooting were not available.

Sgt. Keith Horrocks with the Salt Lake City Police Department said the suspect had non-life threatening injuries.

Officials said around 3:40 p.m. Wednesday, police spotted a vehicle near 1460 West North Temple that had been reported as stolen. An officer approached the vehicle and made contact with a 20-year-old male inside.

After some kind of incident, an officer discharged at least one round from his service weapon, hitting the suspect. Horrocks said it was unclear what prompted the officer to shoot, and it was not clear if there were any other officers on the scene.

Police rendered medical care until emergency medical technicians arrived on the scene. The suspect’s identity was not released.

There was a heavy police presence in the area as officers responded to reports of the shot fired.

Passed this ambulance and police car speeding away from the scene. @KSL5TV pic.twitter.com/FgyhAEw724

— Matt Rascon (@MattRasconNews) January 8, 2020

Officers in both marked and unmarked vehicles were surrounding two passenger vehicles on the side of the road. Horrocks was unable to say if the vehicles were involved in the incident.

A witness who didn’t want to be identified said he was waiting at the bus stop when he saw one of the vehicles speeding down 1460 West.

“I didn’t know the police were chasing him until they blocked him in,” he said. “I was more worried about him losing control and hitting me.”

The man said it appeared the suspect was not cooperating with police.

“They gave him ample warnings. (They yelled,) ‘Stop the car. Stop the car. Get out of the car,” the man said. “He just refused to comply.”

Investigators had a large area around the vehicles marked off with crime scene tape as they worked at the scene.

We’ve confirmed this is an “officer-involved critical incident”. The scene is about a block away from the Utah Health Dept, the brown building you see. #shooting @slcpd @KSL5TV pic.twitter.com/GyzWNtuiih

— Matt Rascon (@MattRasconNews) January 8, 2020

Officers closed 1460 West from North Temple to approximately 250 North.

Sgt. Horrocks said detectives from the Unified Police Department of Greater Salt Lake was taking over the investigation.

Any body cam or dash cam video was expected to be release in 10 days, pursuant to police department policy.