Body camera video, 911 call released in Tooele police shooting

TOOELE, Utah — Newly-released body camera footage and 911 call audio Monday documented the tense moments surrounding an officer-involved shooting earlier this month in Tooele.

Around 5 a.m. on Jan. 12, officers responded to a home near 900 West and 600 South, following a second call from a woman who said her husband was intoxicated, armed and was being physical with her after he had already left the house once an hour prior.

“I need my husband removed,” the woman was recorded stating to the dispatcher in the second call.

Less than two minutes into the call, a struggle could be heard between the woman and the man as he apparently took her phone away.

“No, get away from me!” the woman could be heard shouting before telling her husband repeatedly to get off of her.

At one point, the woman acknowledged having called police.

“You want me dead?” the man could be heard saying flatly.

“No, I don’t!” the woman stated emphatically.

“Because I’m going to die right now if they (expletive) come,” he replied.

During the recording, the woman told her husband she didn’t want him there and that he scared her.

“You scare me!” she said. “You put bullet holes in the ceiling!”

Police said officers had information the man had a gun as they approached the house.

After no response at the door, the video captured officers as they spotted the man looking out from an interior door in the garage.

“Drop the gun!” officers could be heard yelling multiple times.

After police said the man pointed a shotgun, one of the officers instructed him by name not to point the gun at them again.

“Well, it’s pointed at you,” the man can be heard saying before one officer opened fire twice, striking the man.

As officers approached the interior door, which remained closed, they once again yelled at the man to drop the gun.

“No!” he could be heard explaining again before a loud bang came from inside.

Lt. Jeremy Hansen said investigators subsequently discovered the man had attempted to fire the shotgun through the door, but the metal door stopped the blast.

“It was head-height,” Hansen told KSL TV. “It was aimed at the officers at the door, head-height when he discharged that round.”

Hansen said officers were subsequently able to grab the gun and take the man into custody, rendering aid to him until emergency crews arrived.

As of Monday, police said the man remained in the hospital in critical condition.

A spokesman late Monday night said the State Bureau of Investigation was still investigating the matter.

Hansen said officers routinely respond to reports of domestic violence, but those calls are anything but routine.

“Domestics are inherently one of the most dangerous situations officers can respond to,” Hansen said. “It’s a very scary situation. We’re happy our officers were uninjured in this. It’s an unfortunate incident that had to happen.”