SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, July 23, 2026 (Gephardt Daily) — The Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office has declined to file criminal charges against Sandy City Police officers in connection the March 22 fatal shooting of a man who reportedly charged officers with a knife.
The man who was fatally shot was Isaac Jesse Watters. According to a summary provided by the DA’s Office, Watters called police at 10:07 a.m. on March 22 and requested police presences as he attempted to retrieve money from a safe at his residence after his wife had changed the locks at the residence.
Police confirmed there was no protective order in place, then contacted his wife and her mother, who verified there was no money in the safe.
Watters left the area, but returned at 3:15 p.m. and broke into the residence, says the account shared by the SLCo DA’s Office. Officers responded, and called out to Watters, who appeared in the entryway of the residence.
Watters insisted the officers shoot him, the account says, then produced a fixed-blade knife and charged toward the officers. The officers drew their guns and fired on Watters, who was transported to a hospital, where he was declared deceased.
During the investigation, bodycam and dashcam video was analyzed, as was home surveillance footage, and evidence from the scene.
A summary letter to the Sandy City Police Chief, shared by the DA’s Office, says the following:
“We believe the facts of this matter, taken together with reasonable inferences derived from those facts, support a conclusion that if a criminal charge was filed against Officer Ware and/or Officer Shaddick for their use of deadly force, and a jury (or other finders of fact) were called upon to determine whether their use of deadly force constituted a criminal act, a jury would likely determine they reasonably believed the use of deadly force was necessary to prevent death or serious body injury to the officer or an individual other than the suspect.”
