Witness video captures deadly officer-involved shooting
Mar 26, 2023, 7:02 PM | Updated: May 21, 2023, 4:26 pm
SANDY, Utah — Sandy police said one person was shot and killed by an officer Sunday morning.
The first call was received by police at 1:08 a.m.
“We had officers that were dispatched to a, my understanding is that it was a mental health subject, possibly suicidal,” said Sgt. Greg Moffitt, public information officer for the Sandy Police Department.
Moffitt said an officer found the subject walking in the area of 11650 S. Eagle Bend Road. They said the suspect lived in the area.
“He continued to follow him from a distance and then at some point, something took place where the subject presented an immediate threat to our officer and unfortunately those actions were met with deadly force from our officer who discharged his firearm, hitting this subject who was pronounced deceased at the scene,” Moffitt said.
Andreea Stoica said she woke up to the sound of gunshots.
“I thought it was actually out our door here, but when we looked out the window… there was one police car at first, but there were a few more coming, so total I think there were five police cars right here on the street,” she said.
She watched the incident unfold from her windows.
“The policeman was pointing with his gun to this guy and shot him,” Stoica said. “After that, there was another police car coming, another one, so four more that came and they blocked the streets. Then the ambulance came and the fire truck as well.”
The dead suspect has not been identified, but police said the one officer involved was not injured.
“There were other officers that were en route, but he happened to be the closest and encountered him rather quickly,” Moffitt said. “I don’t know how long he was by himself but I know it wasn’t for very long.”
Police could not say if the suspect was armed.
“It was a very, very rapidly evolving situation and that’s why the word immediate is appropriate for this, it happened very fast,” Moffitt said.
Stoica said she saw other people in the street at the time of the incident and heard officers telling them to get back. Sandy Police said they can’t say if those bystanders were witnesses or related to the suspect.
The officer involved in the shooting was placed on paid administrative leave.
The Sandy Police Department will do an internal review, and a team made up of investigators from police departments throughout Salt Lake County, not including Sandy, will do a more in-depth investigation. Once its complete, the investigation will be sent to the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office.
