BLUFFDALE, Utah, Jan. 24, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — A 44-year-old Bluffdale man was shot and killed by police after he reportedly drew a pistol on first responders who had been summoned to the residence on a medical call.
Chief Andrew Burton, Saratoga Springs Police Department, told Gephardt Daily that Bluffdale Fire and EMS crews were called to the scene at about 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, and responded to the area of 15000 South and Castle View Drive. SSPD handles police calls for Bluffdale, and officers also responded to the scene.
The man was in a basement bedroom.
“When the Fire Department paramedics and officers went down there to respond on the case, the man came and produced in his hand a pistol firearm,” Burton said.
“Shots were fired and the suspect was hit. He was then immediately attended to by the paramedics, obviously. Shortly thereafter, he was transported to the Riverton Hospital emergency room where he was just a little bit later declared deceased.”
No other injuries were reported.
An officer-involved critical incident team was called in to investigate, and two SSPD officers were placed on paid administrative pending the results of an investigation, to be conducted by a OICI team led by Unified Police.
Asked if the shooting victim had fired the pistol, Burton said OICI investigators would be determining that. A gun was recovered at the scene, he said.
Burton said officers had responded to the same residence in the past on medical calls, none of which turned violent. None of the responses were in the past year, he said.
“Based on the information we had, it didn’t appear to be a high-risk situation or anything of that nature,” he said.
As for any findings of the OICI team, “we’re a little bit in the dark for just a little while, but we’re confident that the investigations team will, you know, do a good job and gather all the information.”
