cUTAH COUNTY, Utah, May 7, 2016 (Gephardt Daily) — The Utah County Sheriff’s Office has named the deputy involved in the fatal shooting of an armed 33-year-old man in April.
Deputy Sean Peterson shot and killed Mark Daniel Bess, 33, a resident of unincorporated Lake View, after Bess charged at him with a knife.
Sgt. Spencer Cannon, UCSO spokesman, told Gephardt Daily that Peterson attempted to serve three felony warrants on Bess at about 11:30 a.m. April 30 at an address near 4900 South and 3200 West.
Bess fled on foot, and a short pursuit ended behind a gray barn. The suspect was armed with a knife.
“He stopped, maybe 40 or 50 feet away from the deputy,” Cannon said. “He produced a knife, held the knife in a threatening manner, he charged the deputy, and when he was maybe 10 to 15 feet away from the deputy, the deputy fired a couple of rounds, at least two rounds, both of which struck the suspect.”
One hit Bess in the head and the second hit his body, killing him, Cannon said.
Peterson began his work with the Utah County Sheriff’s Office in October 2005 as a volunteer member of the search and rescue team. In February 2007, he was hired as a corrections specialist and worked in the jail.
In February 2011, Peterson was promoted and assigned as a deputy in the patrol division, where he has worked as an animal control officer and in his current assignment as a patrol deputy.
Why aren’t we demanding the bodycam footage on this?