LAYTON, Utah, Nov. 29, 2015 (Gephardt Daily) ─ Lt. Paul Kotter, a trooper for the Utah Highway Patrol who was shot by a motorist in August, has returned to active full time duty.
According to UHP Sgt. Todd Royce, Kotter was working in a construction zone on State Road 193 between Layton and Clearfield early Aug. 28, 2015, when he saw a Geo Metro pull out of a nearby apartment complex and stop in a restricted area.
Kotter approached the vehicle and spoke to the male driver, Drew Moyer, 21, whom Kotter said smelled of alcohol. Kotter was walking back to his cruiser when Moyer fired three shots, striking the trooper twice in the back and once in the buttocks.
The two rounds which struck Kotter in the back were stopped by his bullet-proof vest. The third round shattered, sending bullet fragments into Kotter’s hips. Investigators said Kotter was able to return fire before going down.
Moments later, the suspect’s vehicle slammed into the back of a parked water truck. The shooter was found dead inside the vehicle from what is believed to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound, although investigators couldn’t initially rule out if he’d been hit by the trooper’s return fire.
At the time of the incident, Kotter was the sergeant over the recruiting process, and the newly hired troopers at the training center and drives an unmarked vehicle which is not equipped with a dash mounted camera so no footage of the actual shooting was available.
The Utah Highway Patrol was still implementing body cameras to troopers and due to Kotter’s assignment, a body camera had not yet been issued to him.
On Nov. 11, 2015 Lt. Kotter was released to full time duty as the new commander of the UHP DUI squad.
Below is the dash camera footage of the events leading up to the shooting.
