TAYLORSVILLE, Utah, Dec. 15, 2021 (Gephardt Daily) — Officials from Salt Lake City Police Department and West Valley City Police Department have released body-worn camera footage after two Utah officers were injured in a shootout in Taylorsville on Dec. 1.
Police say the suspect, Anei Gabriel Joker, 20, shot a West Valley City officer and Unified Police officer. Both the suspect and the two officers were taken to nearby hospitals.
The West Valley City Police officer was initially declared in critical condition; he was then upgraded to serious condition and released that weekend.
The Unified Police officer was initially in serious condition and was discharged from hospital Dec. 3.
The suspect, Joker, was taken to an area hospital, but did not survive, according to a statement by the WVPCD.
“The suspect in this case was a wanted party, for various violent felonies,” WVC Police Chief Colleen Jacobs said in a press conference the day after the incident. “The detectives involved in this incident were specifically looking for this individual. They were able to locate him at the 7-Eleven at 4100 South and Redwood.”
Both SLCPD and WVCPD released video footage of the incident on Wednesday.
Some of the footage linked below may be disturbing to some viewers and is age-restricted. Click on the links if you wish to proceed.
SLCPD Video Links
At some point, it was discovered there was an infant inside the vehicle, along with the child’s parents. The infant was safely removed from the vehicle by officers.
“Once the baby was safe from harm’s way, negotiations continued with the suspect,” she added. “At some point, as you can see from the video that’s been aired, pepper balls were projected into the vehicle in an attempt to encourage the suspect to come out. After a period of time, he did come out of the vehicle, firing a weapon.”
Officers then returned fire.
The incident is being investigated by Salt Lake Police.
A statement from SLCPD Wednesday regarding its videos said the following:
“In compliance with Salt Lake City Ordinance 200.10.200, the Salt Lake City Police Department is releasing body-worn camera (BWC) footage of the officer-involved critical incident that occurred on December 1, 2021 at 4100 South Redwood Road. The footage released today shows the incident from the two involved SLCPD officers. Additionally, the SLCPD is releasing BWC footage from other SLCPD officers who were on scene assisting as containment officers on the scene’s perimeter. 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 approximately two minutes prior to the use of deadly force and is stopped after the last shot was fired and when the suspect is taken into custody.”
The two involved SLCPD officers are shown on their body-worn camera footage as part of an emergency action team, the news release said. Both officers are positioned behind an outside agency’s patrol vehicle for hardcover and are being assisted by an outside agency member of law enforcement who is present with a ballistic shield.
“Just prior to the deadly force incident, SLCPD members on scene assisting as containment officers on the scene’s perimeter witnessed Mr. Joker’s brother running into the crime scene,” the news release said. “The officers immediately ran to intercept Mr. Joker’s brother. As the officers contacted the individual, the use of deadly force incident occurred which prompted the officers to all seek cover on the ground and to take the subject behind nearby police cars to avoid any potential crossfire concerns. After temporarily being placed into handcuffs, for his safety, officers worked with the individual to provide information about what had just occurred. The person was released from custody.”
The news release added that the quick “popping” sounds heard just prior to the use of deadly force are pepper balls being deployed into the suspect vehicle. SLCPD was not the agency that deployed these munitions, the news release said.
The two SLCPD officers who used deadly force responded to the scene after the initial traffic stop in the 7-Eleven parking lot.
The other officers on scene responded to assist with containment and any ground searches.
Body-worn-camera footage shows a police K-9 unit as part of the arrest team. This was not an SLCPD K-9 Unit.
Gephardt Daily will have more on this developing story as information is made available.
