OGDEN, Utah, Dec. 1, 2018 (Gephardt Daily) — Ogden Police officials have identified the man shot and killed by officers on Friday evening in front of the municipal building and Christmas Village.
Dead is Richard (Richardo) Galvan, 37, who was hit after firing on officers and a patrol car, and hitting the car, according to Chief Steven R. Watt, OPD.
Watt said the fatal encounter began at 6:10 p.m. when a woman in a truck used her horn and light to signal a patrol officer, then said she had been kidnapped by ex-boyfriend Galvan, who was armed and who had just left the truck and was walking away on Washington Boulevard.
Officers used existing stationary cameras to locate Galvan, who was on the sidewalk in front of the municipal building and the temporary Christmas Village display.
Graphic video: Ogden officer-involved shooting.Viewer discretion advised.
An officer called to Galvan, who continued to walk away, then turned and fired on the officer, Watt said. A patrol car arrived, and Galvan fired on it, Watt said.
Another patrol car arrived and two officers returned fire, at least one of them striking Galvan in the head. He died at the scene in front of the municipal building.
Watt said Galvan had an extensive criminal record, including felony kidnapping, assault, child abuse, assault on a police officer with a deadly weapon and theft. He had warrants out of El Paso, Texas, and Denver, but had a clean record in Utah, where he moved in about October of 2017, Watt said.
In addition, Galvan is a known member of two national gangs, South Side and 18th Street.
Watt said Galvan’s girlfriend had broken off their relationship recently, and when she woke up Friday morning, he was inside her residence in the west part of Weber County, with a loaded .45 caliber pistol.
The woman told officers that Galvan had spent the whole day alternating between threatening to kill her and to commit suicide, Watt said. Eventually, Galvan asked her to drive him around, and he stayed with her until exiting the truck in downtown Ogden, right before she saw the chance to signal the officer.
Watt said he considers it very lucky that there was a lull in visitors at Christmas Village, and that the only two people close to the crime scene — a taco vendor and a customer — were unhurt in the exchange.
The two officers who fired their guns are on routine administrative leave pending an investigation by a law enforcement agency other than the Ogden Police Department, as required by officer-involved shooting protocol.
