DUCHESNE COUNTY, Utah, April 7, 2019 (Gephardt Daily) — An investigation is underway after an officer-involved shooting early Sunday morning near Roosevelt in Duchesne County.
Two Duchesne County sheriff’s deputies and two Roosevelt police officers responded to a domestic violence call at a home south of Roosevelt near 500 East and 5000 South at approximately 2 a.m., according to a news release from Duchesne County Sheriff’s Office.
They were told the alleged suspect was armed with a gun, the news release said.
“When the deputies and officers arrived, they found the alleged suspect outside the home,” the news release goes on. “They were attempting to detain the man when he pulled a handgun, racked the gun’s slide to chamber a bullet and began to bring the gun up.”
One of the deputies, “concerned for his own safety and the safety of the other law enforcement officers,” fired two rounds as the man brought the gun up, the news release said. The man brought his gun up to his head as the deputy was firing and shot himself in the head. The deputy’s two shots missed the man and struck a nearby vehicle.
The injured man was taken to Uintah Basin Medical Center in Roosevelt before being flown by medical helicopter to a Wasatch Front hospital. He is expected to survive.
His name and age are not being released at this time.
None of the law enforcement officers involved were injured.
The deputy who fired his gun has been placed on paid administrative leave as outlined in sheriff’s office policy. The sheriff’s office will conduct an internal investigation of the incident. An independent investigation of the incident is also being conducted by the Basin Critical Incident Team.
