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MAGNA, Utah, April 17, 2018 (Gephardt Daily) — Officials say a man who was killed after threats phoned in to dispatchers early Tuesday morning led to an officer-involved shooting in Magna likely posted numerous videos to Facebook calling police “killers” and predicting his own death.
The deceased has been identified as 41-year-old Lonnie Marcel Bowen of Salt Lake City, the Unified Police Department said in a news release Tuesday afternoon.
On a Facebook page titled ‘Lonnie Natalie Bowen,’ a man who UPD spokesman Lt. Brian Lohrke said officials “believe” is the same person, posted a 4-minute-35-second video.
“The Salt Lake PD are killers, and they responsible for anything that happens to me, death wise,” the video states. “They want to kill me. Why cos, I don’t know, that’s just the way they do shit. And I’m ready … I’m not hostile in any kind of manner, I’m not armed, or anything. They’re going to make my death look like a drug deal gone bad, or gang violence, or something like that, but that’s not the case, the case is they want me dead, for whatever reason they want me dead.”
He also posted other videos with similar sentiments.
Lohrke said those videos have been forwarded to the SLCPD, which is leading the Officer Involved Critical Incident (OICI) protocol investigation in accordance with the state’s OICI protocol.
Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera told Gephardt Daily the deadly chain of events began at approximately 3 a.m. when Valley Emergency Communications Center (VECC) received a 911 call from an agitated male.
The news release from the UPD said the caller stated: “Tell your officers to back off, or I will shove this knife through her throat.” The unknown male on the line also requested to speak to a hostage negotiator. VECC transferred the call to the UPD Dispatch Center.
“Not knowing who made the call, or if the threat was legitimate, and having no officers in the vicinity, UPD Millcreek officers were dispatched to the area of 3698 S. 900 East, the location of the phone ping,” the news release said. “Officers did not notice anything out of the ordinary, other than a truck leaving the area. Officers were able to get the license plate of the truck before it left.”
At approximately 4 a.m., UPD received information that the West Valley City Police Department was in pursuit of the same truck that was observed leaving Millcreek. The pursuit started at 5600 W. 3100 South, continued west through West Valley and into Magna. During the pursuit through Magna, WVCPD officers deployed tire spikes to disable the truck and it eventually came to a stop at 2750 S. 8400 West.
“A UPD officer, who arrived to assist at the stop location, approached the vehicle and fired at the male inside the cab of the truck,” the news release goes on. “Medical aid was rendered but the suspect passed away at the scene.”
The female who was also inside the truck was not struck by gunfire. She was transported and treated at a nearby hospital for injuries inflicted upon her by Bowen. It’s not clear at this time what the relationship was between the woman and Bowen.
Gephardt Daily will provide more information as it becomes available.
