LEHI, Utah, April 21, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — Sheriff’s deputies and Lehi police were able to intervene Thursday afternoon as a man shooting at people with a BB gun began brandishing a large knife.
Events began around 1:30 p.m. after a call to dispatch of a man shot in the face with a BB gun near Lehi on 8,000 West, according to a Utah County Sheriff’s Office press release.
The 911 caller also told dispatch the suspect, Mason Reese Wright, age 33, of Utah County, was holding a knife to the back of a woman.
“When Lehi police arrived they saw Wright standing behind a woman holding a 10-inch knife on her back,” the sheriff’s office said. “Lehi Officers ordered Wright to drop the knife and he complied. They then took Wright into custody.”
Earlier in the day, investigation revealed, Wright, intoxicated, had been shooting a BB gun at the woman and a man with whom he had been staying with in their RV. He then threatened the woman with a knife saying “I will kill you” and chasing her inside the RV.
She was able to flee to another trailer where 911 was called, police arriving just as Wright was again threatening her with the knife, according to the press release.
As Wright was booked into the Utah County Jail, his blood alcohol content allegedly tested at more than three times the legal limit to drive a car.
He faces charges of attempted murder, a first-degree felony, two counts of third-degree felony aggravated assault, a misdemeanor intoxication count, and restricted person in possession of a dangerous weapon, a third-degree felony.
The latter charge the result of an extensive history of alcohol offenses, assaults and other crimes against persons, the sheriff’s office said.
