OGDEN, Utah, Aug. 30, 2019 (Gephardt Daily) — The Ogden Police Department has released the body cam video of the officer-involved shooting of a suspect by one of its officers responding to a clinic burglary in Roy on Wednesday, July 31.
The man killed was 37-year-old Donald Lee Joseph.
Joseph, of Clearfield, died while being transported from the scene, at Roy’s Tanner Clinic, early on the morning of July 31.
A woman, a member of cleaning crew at the clinic, heard breaking glass and barricaded herself into a room before alerting police at about 1:40 a.m.
Officers from the Roy Police Department and other agencies, including the OPD, responded.
Ogden Police Chief Randy Watt explained what transpired at a news conference at 9 a.m. the same day.
“When the K-9 unit arrived, the handler deployed the K-9 and made entry to the building in a search to locate the suspect,” Watt said. “They moved in a very coordinated fashion into the business. The reason being they were concerned for the safety of the cleaning crew member who was trapped inside the building with a violent suspect.”
The suspect, now identified as Joseph, was located in a hallway holding a hammer, Watt said.
“The suspect refused commands to drop the hammer, and was engaged several times with less lethal rounds from a beanbag gun,” Watt added. “In response, the suspect rapidly retreated into an office out of view.”
As officers were positioning themselves adjacent to the office, the suspect suddenly emerged and rapidly advanced on the officers holding a knife “in a threatening position,” Watt said.
“The contact was at such close quarters, officers had no choice but to utilize their firearms to defend themselves,” Watt said. “The Ogden K-9 officer fired several rounds with his 9 mm duty pistol.”
Joseph fell to the floor, still holding the knife, with the K-9 holding onto his leg. The K-9 was retrieved, and the K-9 officer and K-9 retreated as other officers took control of the scene and issued voice commands to the suspect to release the knife, Watt said.
Joseph was disarmed, taken into custody, and was transported to the emergency room at Davis Hospital’s Weber Campus, where he was pronounced deceased.
Narcotics taken in the clinic pharmacy burglary were found on his person, officials said.
Watt said the officers from Roy and Ogden were wearing body cameras. That footage was being reviewed at the time.
Watt expressed condolences to Joseph’s family and said, “These tragedies can be hard to understand. We are also grateful that all officers involved were not injured and that the cleaning crew member was found safe inside the building.”
