Barricaded Suspect Fires Shots At SWAT Team In Taylorsville

TAYLORSVILLE, Utah — A barricaded suspect from a domestic violence incident fired multiple shots at SWAT team members in Taylorsville during a six-hour standoff, police said.

Dispatch confirmed the suspect was barricaded in a home on Queenswood Drive, near 5300 South and 3600 West Saturday afternoon.

Officials with the Unified Police Department said the situation started as a domestic dispute between a father and his son.

When officers arrived, they found the father was injured and quickly got him to the hospital, but the son barricaded himself inside the home where he began firing at SWAT team members.

We are not sure who fired the shots, heard about 8:47, but we are seeing @UPDSL deploy drones and snipers are on nearby roofs. @KSL5TV pic.twitter.com/lMMMrAP31F

— Garna Mejia (@GarnaMejiaKSL) April 18, 2021

Investigators said he shot at officers multiple times. Fortunately, no one was hit.

“If he is willing to shoot at police officers, he’s willing to shoot anyone, and our role is to make sure everybody is safe,” said Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera. “If we were to just walk away, we don’t know what he’s going to do with those firearms.

Neighbors were told to shelter in place while SWAT teams used tear gas and other negotiation tactics to try and get the suspect to surrender.

UPD confirmed the suspect was safely taken into custody around 10 p.m.

He was later identified as 43-year-old Ben M. Williams, Jr. of Taylorsville.

Williams was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on multiple charges, including murder; assault against peace officer/military with weapon or force; felony discharge of a firearm; aggravated abuse of a vulnerable adult; and the purchase, transmission, possession, use of a firearm by a restricted person.