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WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah, April 18, 2020 (Gephardt Daily) — Police are searching for a suspect who fired multiple shots at a West Valley City officer Saturday afternoon, while the officer was conducting a vehicle inspection.
Lt. Justin Wyckoff, with the West Valley Police Department, told Gephardt Daily the officer escaped injury during the incident, which occurred shortly before 5 p.m. near 2200 South and 4000 West, as the officer was doing a VIN inspection on a vehicle.
The suspect had no relation to the vehicle inspection, and his motive for shooting at the officer is not known, Wyckoff said.
Police pursued the suspect into Salt Lake City and back into West Valley City. Wyckoff said Utah Highway Patrol assisted when the suspect drove onto eastbound Interstate 80.
Despite officers’ efforts to apprehend the suspect, he was able to evade them, and the vehicle was later found abandoned in South Salt Lake. Police set up a containment perimeter in the area where the vehicle was found and brought in K-9s, but the suspect wasn’t located.
Just before 7 p.m., West Valley City officers near 3900 West and 4700 South conducted a felony stop on an individual who matched the description of the suspect. They were in the process of interviewing him, and Lt. Wyckoff said it isn’t yet known if he is the suspect.
Gephardt Daily will update this developing story as more information becomes available.
