SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, June 10, 2016 (Gephardt Daily) — The Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office has determined that the use of deadly force by two Salt Lake City Police Department officers who shot Palm Samiuel Lautaimi in January was legally justified, after conducting an Officer Involved Critical Incident (OICI) review.
According to a statement from the DA’s office, at about 4 a.m. on Jan. 31, 2016 a SLCPD officer saw two people walking in the middle of Main Street in Salt Lake City.
The officer stopped the female, later identified as Katalina Langi and the male, later identified as Palm Lautaimi, 28. As the officer investigated the situation, Lautaimi took a swing at the officer and ran. The officer saw Lautaimi running with a gun as he pursued Lautaimi.
Eventually, the officer, along with another SLCPD officer, caught up to Lautaimi in the yard of a home at 1376 S. Major St., near Smith’s Ballpark.
Lautaimi was pointing a gun at his own head. Officers ordered Lautaimi to drop the weapon. As Lautaimi lowered the handgun, he pointed the weapon at one of the officers.
Both officers fired their weapons, injuring Lautaimi. He was transported to the hospital, and survived his injuries.
Both officers had body cameras on at the time of the shooting, and the video evidence was turned over to a team led by the West Valley City Police Department, which handled the investigation per Salt Lake County’s officer-involved critical incident investigation protocol.
The officers were put on routine administrative leave pending the result of the investigation.
The Salt Lake County DA’s Office is required by Utah State law to perform joint investigations and independent reviews of officer involved critical incidents including police officers’ use of deadly or potentially deadly force used in the scope of police officers’ official duties.
