March 7, 2021 (Gephardt Daily) — A Midvale woman was booked into Salt Lake County jail after police say she pointed a gun at an officer who had arrived for a welfare check.
Officers arrived at the Lincoln Street address after calls came in from friends reporting a social media post in which Tammy Spurling, 55, said if she was found dead, a family member had killed her.
“Sorry he pushed me too far,” the probable cause quotes the post as saying. “I’m done. I’m trying to stay alive. Help!!!!!!!!”
The reporting officer, with the Unified Police Department, said she knocked on Spurling’s door several times, attempting to speak with the woman and ensure her safety. No one answered the door, the officer stated.
The officer walked around the driveway and side of the residence to look for signs of the possibly injured woman, the statement says. The reporting officer said she then saw a light turn on inside the house, the probable cause statement says.
“I began to walk back to the front of the residence where I saw the interior wood door open and observed the subject through the glass storm door. I had researched the subject prior to arriving and recognized it to be the subject of the welfare check. I was happy to see she appeared uninjured.
“As the subject opened the glass storm door and walked onto the elevated patio, I called to her by her name in a gentle voice. The subject exited her her residence, walked across the elevated cement patio, stood next to a brick pillar, and produced a handgun — pointing it toward my head.”
The officer said she and her partner drew their service weapons, pointed them toward Spurling, and the reporting officer’s “partner gave the subject loud, verbal commands.”
Spurling put down the gun on the cement patio wall and placed her hands in the air, the probable cause statement says.
“The subject was exceptionally intoxicated,” the officer’s statement continues. “She reeked of the odor of an alcoholic beverage, her speech was slurred, her eyes were bloodshot and watery, and she was clearly a danger to herself and others in her intoxicated state.
“The subject opened her door, exited her house, moved onto the elevated portion of her patio, and confronted two fully uniformed police officers with a gun in her hand. The subject pointed a firearm toward the head of one of them (aggravated assault) and subject recklessly endangered the other by pointing the handgun forward.”
Intoxication contributed to the danger, the officer noted.
“The subject’s highly intoxicated stated contributed to being a danger to herself and others by answering her door with a handgun and pointing it toward people.,” the UPD officer’s statement says.
Spurling was transported to the Salt Lake County Jail, and booked on suspicion of aggravated assault, a third-degree felony; reckless endangerment, a class A misdemeanor; and intoxication, a class C misdemeanor. Her bail was set at $7,200.
