EAGLE MOUNTAIN, Utah, Dec. 13, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — Arrest documents filed for suspect Mark Samuel Roberts reveal more details about what transpired during a shooting and SWAT response Monday in Eagle Mountain.
Roberts, 61, has been charged on suspicion of:
- Murder (attempted), a first-degree felony
- Two counts of felony discharge of a firearm – shooting in the direction of a person, a first-degree felony
- Two counts of aggravated assault, produces loss of consciousness, a second-degree felony
- Three counts of assault, a class B misdemeanor
Officers from the Utah County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene, on Kestrel Way, after a neighbor called dispatch at 1:44 p.m. to report a neighbor had been shot.
Police responded, and the shooting victim, a 72-year-old relative by marriage, was transported to Utah Valley Medical Center. He is expected to survive, according to Sgt. Spencer Cannon, UCSO. The victim’s age was originally given as 61, but the department issued a correction.
“It was reported that the suspect, Mark Samuel Roberts, was still in the residence with a gun and there was a 96-year-old male,” says a probable cause statement filed by an officer of the Utah County Sheriff’s Office.
“Utah County Deputies entered the residence and moved the 96-year-old male” to a nearby residence.
One of the family members who lived in the house with Roberts and the victim told officers she and the two men had been arguing about the care of the 96-year-old relative, and Roberts became upset and went to his room.
The woman said “they were arguing and yelling through the door back and forth with Mark, and Mark opened the door and began shooting. (She) stated the shooting continued as they ran from the doorway and Mark followed (the shooting victim) into the living room area.”
The woman said the shooting victim was shot in the hip. She and the injured man made it outside, where two neighbors assisted them and one called dispatch.
Cannon told Gephardt Daily between 60 and 70 officers were on scene, from the Sheriff’s Office and the Utah County SWAT team, comprised of officers from multiple law enforcement agencies.
Several nearby schools were placed on lockout.
“At approximately 4:03 p.m., negotiators were able to get Mark Roberts to leave his firearm on his bed and exit the residence without incident,” the probable cause statement.
Roberts was taken into custody, and post Miranda, agreed to talk with officers.
Roberts said he had been “living off and on between California and Utah for the past five year, and in Utah, resided in Eagle Mountain with relatives and in-laws. Roberts said he and some of his relatives “have a long history of family disputes.”
He said he was upset about a prescription given to the 96-year-old man, and a verbal dispute began, so he went to his room. When two family members followed him and began yelling through the door, Roberts said, “Mark stated he became upset, grabbed his gun, opened the door, and began shooting….”
“Mark continued shooting four more shots at John as he followed (the victim) to the living room area of the residence. From the holes in the wall from inside the bedroom it was apparent that Mark was attempting to shoot (the victim) through the wall as he tracked (the victim) leaving the hallway. Mark stated that when he broke the threshold of the hallway into the living room he stepped to his right by the television, and he fired one or two more shots,” at the victim, striking him.
Roberts said the woman began approaching him aggressively, so he pointed the gun at her as well, and she stepped back. The two exited the house, with the man falling and being helped onto a metal chair on the porch.
Roberts said he returned to his room, “and wished he could take it back.”
He was booked into the Utah County jail, and ordered held without bail.
