TAYLORSVILLE, Utah, April 7, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — A Taylorsville police officer who returned fire at a 29-year-old man in November 2021 was justified in the use of deadly force, the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office said Friday.
Aaron Troy Michael Rehn, 29, died by suicide following a manhunt in Taylorsville in the early morning hours of Nov. 4, 2021, District Attorney Sim Gill said in a letter outlining his office’s investigation into the shooting.
The incident began about 4:30 a.m. when a Taylorsville police officer approached Rehn, “whom he believed was acting suspiciously” at the Speedway gas station, 2187 W. 4700 South, the letter states.
The man left the area while the officer was speaking with the gas station clerk, but the officer later found him hiding behind a large pine tree near 2015 W. 4700 South, according to the district attorney’s office.
The officer shined his flashlight on Rehn and ordered him to come out, the letter states. Rehn continued to flee, hiding behind trees as he moved along a vinyl fence, according to police.
As the officer got closer to Rehn, the man fired “multiple rounds,” the letter states. The officer then ran away from the trees and toward a building along 4700 South, according to the DA.
“[As] he ran along the building, all he could hear was shots being fired,” the letter states.
The officer later reported seeing “muzzle flashes from behind the tree” as he looked back while running away, according to the district attorney’s office.
“[The officer] said he started shooting back at the muzzle flashes, and that he shot one-handed and with his hand back, while moving away from Mr. Rehn,” the DA’s letter states. “[The officer] explained that he shot because, ‘I was getting shot at. [I] felt like I was going to die,'” adding that he believed the man “was out to kill.”
The DA investigation concluded Rehn likely fired eight shots at the officer, and the officer fired five times. The exchange of gunfire lasted about 70 seconds, the letter states.
Additional officers from several area law enforcement agencies responded to assist and search for Rehn.
A few hours later, he was found in a residential neighborhood south of where the shooting occurred, according to the district attorney’s office.
Officers observed the man use a handgun to take his own life, police said. Police later recovered two handguns near his body, according to the district attorney’s office.
“We conclude that the totality of the facts in the case … supports a finding that [the officer] believed that Mr. Rehn posed a serious and immediate threat to his life and safety, and that such a belief by [the officer] was reasonable,” the letter states.
At the time of the shooting, police said Rehn was believed to be homeless. He had no active warrants and was not on probation or parole, according to police.
