Provo Police release name of slain patrolman; Officer Joseph Shinners killed in the line of duty

• Police have identified the suspect arrested in the case. To read the story, click here.

PROVO, Utah, Jan. 6, 2019 (Gephardt Daily) — The Provo Police Department has released the name of the officer who lost his life Saturday night while attempting to apprehend a wanted fugitive in the parking lot of a Bed, Bath and Beyond store at 50 W. University Parkway in Orem.

Officer Joseph Shinners, 29, was mortally wounded while he and other officers converged on the truck the suspect was sitting in just before 10 p.m.

There was an exchange of gunfire and Shinners fell to the pavement.

The three-year veteran of the force was rushed by fellow officers to the Utah Valley Hospital, where he died from his injuries a short while later.

In an emotional press conference Sunday afternoon, a tearful Provo Police Chief Richard Ferguson praised his fallen officer.

“Joe Shinners was intelligent, he was honorable, he was hardworking,” Ferguson said. “He was decent in every single way, and he exemplified the nobility of policing. He was the very best of the Provo Police Department.”

He is survived by his wife and a 1-year-old son.

https://www.facebook.com/provopd/videos/2138278189818143/

Detective Nick Dupaix told Gephardt Daily that Provo P.D. was first notified about the fugitive’s whereabouts at 9:53 p.m.

“Our officers responded out there to apprehend the suspect, and while officers were attempting to apprehend the suspect there was a shooting,” Dupaix said. “One of our officers was hit. He was rushed to the hospital, where he was treated for injuries.

“Unfortunately one of our brothers, one of our Provo police officers, succumbed to his injuries and has passed on.”

Dozens of law enforcement officers and firefighters from across the county gathered at the hospital where they received the news of Shinner’s death. They ultimately formed a mile-long police procession, which escorted the slain officer’s body to the Medical Examiner’s Office in Taylorsville.

Shinners is the fifth Provo police officer to die in the line of duty in the department’s history.

#Breaking #OverNight Provo Police Department responds to officer’s shooting outside Orem mall https://t.co/2wI6Z1r22z via @GephardtDaily pic.twitter.com/l5SW07ntla

— SLCScanner (@SLCScanner) January 6, 2019