SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Aug. 4, 2021 (Gephardt Daily) — The Salt Lake City Police Department is releasing body-worn camera footage of an officer-involved critical incident that occurred on July 20.
“The footage released (above) shows the incident from all three officers who initially responded,” said a news release from SLCPD. “The videos being released are the only videos in SLCPD’s possession to capture the moments leading up to and including the shooting. The footage begins when the officers activated their body-worn cameras and is stopped after the last shot was fired and while officers set up containment on the residence.”
The deceased man has been identified as Navada Escholt, 42, the news release said.
The statement says that at 11:32 a.m. on July 20, SLC 911 received a call from a woman indicating a man, later identified as Escholt, at a residence in the area of 1660 W. 800 North, was threatening suicide and was armed with a gun.
“Salt Lake City Fire Department personnel were dispatched, however, because the subject was armed with a gun, SLCFD staged and waited for police to arrive,” the news release said. “All available officers were on previously dispatched calls at the time this particular call for service was received. At 11:57 a.m. two units became available and were dispatched to the scene. At 12:06 p.m. both units arrived up the street from the dispatched address to start consulting on the most appropriate way to handle the call.”
Three SLCPD officers, one of whom was in the Field Training Program as a new officer, were on scene, the news release said. The primary officer then contacted the complainant, a relative of Escholt, by phone to gather more information. The officer then attempted to contact the subject by phone before the officers approached the residence. The call placed by the primary officer rang once and went to voicemail.
“Officers walked to the residence from their staging location,” the news release added. “Once they arrived, they attempted to contact the subject by knocking on both the front and back door but received no response.”
After several minutes of attempting contact without results, the officers moved to the sidewalk in front of the property. As one of the officers called the complainant again, the other two officers watched the front of the apartment, the news release said. At 12:28 p.m. one of the officers noticed someone peeking through the blinds in the apartment and motioned for the individual to come outside.
“At 12:30 p.m. the door opened, and the subject exited the apartment,” the news release said. “Almost immediately, the subject fired a round towards the officers who quickly moved to take cover. Two of the officers took cover behind structures and vehicles at the property next door, while the third officer was forced to take cover behind a tree. The officer behind the tree fired a single round towards the subject.”
At 12:31 p.m. a second round was fired from inside the apartment, also by Escholt. The officer taking cover behind the tree indicated he heard the round fly past him. At 12:38 p.m. the officer behind the tree was able to move to cover with the other two officers, and additional officers began to arrive on scene to contain the apartment.
The suspect was subsequently found inside the apartment, deceased.
The video below is the audio recording of the 911 call placed on July 20.
