RIVERTON, Utah, Oct. 29, 2018 (Gephardt Daily) — A suspect is in custody after a SWAT standoff in Riverton Monday morning.
Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera told Gephardt Daily the incident occurred in the area of the Legacy Springs apartment complex at 12657 S. Legacy Springs Drive (4900 West), which is just west of Mountain View Corridor.
Rivera said officials received a call just after 8:10 a.m. saying a man had barricaded himself inside an apartment and was saying he wanted to kill himself. She said the man had made statements he wanted to die from suicide by cop.
The Unified Police Department responded to the scene along with a SWAT team and negotiators.
“We had patrol respond first, but we have found out is this person was involved in a domestic violence case out in Herriman yesterday,” Rivera said. “They were not able to locate him. Today he expressed he was going to kill himself, sent some information to friends, that that’s what he was going to do. He does know that as part of the domestic he would probably be arrested so we think that’s probably what stirred the whole thing today.”
Rivera said officials are working to verify if the man had a firearm in his possession after he told friends that was the case.
“We did bring out our hostage negotiators and they are very good at talking people down when they want to hurt themselves.” She said negotiators talked to the man on the phone.
Rivera added there was no one else inside the apartment with the suspect. There were family members waiting outside the apartment along with officials.
Rivera said officials eventually put gas into the apartment to try to get the suspect to exit, but he still would not come out, so officers entered and take him into custody. She said all the doors were barricaded in the apartment. The man was found in a bedroom.
Rivera said it doesn’t appear the man is injured but, medical is checking him out as a precaution. The suspect also said he’d taken various different prescription pills, so he may be transported to an area hospital and then Herriman will arrest him later on the domestic violence charges. Rivera said the man allegedly broke into an apartment Sunday in Herriman and choked someone. A child present.
Mental health professionals were also called to the scene to assist the suspect.
“We’re fortunate that it went our way this time and nobody got hurt,” Rivera said.
Nearby residents were evacuated to ensure their safety and will soon be allowed back into their apartments.
Gephardt Daily will update this developing story as information is made available.
