Man shot, killed in West Bountiful parking lot; suspect in custody after standoff

WEST BOUNTIFUL — A man suspected of being involved in the fatal shooting of a man in the parking lot of a Lowe’s home improvement store in West Bountiful Friday morning was taken into custody after a standoff with Grand County sheriff’s deputies on U.S. 191.

Police identified the victim as Zachary Carson, 50.

At about 5 a.m. Bountiful dispatch began to receive calls about a shooting that had occurred in the parking lot at 350 N. 545 West in West Bountiful. A woman reported the incident to police, and officers arrived to find Carson unresponsive in his vehicle after being shot multiple times. The woman identified the suspected shooter as her estranged husband, Jake Jackson, 31.

Medical personnel attempted life-saving measures, but Carson was pronounced dead at the scene. The woman had fled following the shooting and later was met by Bountiful and Centerville police. Investigators learned that the woman and Jackson had been separated for approximately a year and the woman was in the process of filing for divorce.

The woman told investigators that Carson had been helping her with divorce paperwork. The pair had met at the parking lot about 7:30 p.m. on Thursday before leaving together in his vehicle. Video footage captured by Lowe’s shows Jackson arriving at the parking lot about 2 a.m. on Friday where he circled the parking lot where “it is presumed he locates her vehicle as he then parks across the parking lot away from her vehicle distanced but within view,” according to a probable cause statement.

A warrant obtained

(KSL TV)

A warrant was later obtained for the woman’s vehicle where police located a tracking device on her vehicle that she was unaware had been placed there.

When Carson and the woman arrived back at the parking lot, she got out of his vehicle, said goodbye, and walked to her vehicle. When she arrived at her vehicle, she saw a man she recognized as her estranged husband walking from across the parking lot and an argument ensued.

The two men began fighting while the woman tried to intervene but was grabbed and pushed against her vehicle, according to the probable cause statement. Police later determined that when she was pushed against the vehicle it bruised her arm and left a mark on her back. When Carson protested and “told Jake he couldn’t treat her like that, Jake then shot Zachary,” the statement added.

Following the shooting, Jackson then pointed the weapon at the woman and demanded she take him to his son, according to police. The woman got into her vehicle and began to leave while her estranged husband “began pounding on the vehicle passenger side door with the handgun in his hand,” the statement said.

Police located a vehicle suspected of being involved in the shooting and investigators said they were looking for Jake Jackson, 31, who was driving a gray 2014 Chevrolet Silverado, with Utah “In God We Trust” license plate 8K7TA, who they believed might be heading for Emery County.

In a Facebook post Friday, the Grand County Sheriff’s Office said it had closed U.S. 191 “due to a barricaded homicide suspect” and urged people to avoid traveling south of Moab toward Monticello. The office confirmed the barricade was related to the shooting death in West Bountiful. Officers were able to disable Jackson’s vehicle and a SWAT team “utilized less lethal chemical munitions and at least one less-lethal impact round,” according to police.

Deputies updated the Facebook post at 1:08 p.m., saying the highway was open and the suspect was in custody.

“The investigation is ongoing into possible motives and events leading up to the shooting,” police said in a statement. “Our condolences go out to those affected by today’s events.”

Jackson was booked into the Davis County Jail for investigation of murder, aggravated assault, threat or use of a deadly weapon in a fight, unlawful installation of a tracking device, assault and criminal mischief.