SALT LAKE COUNTY, Utah, April 9, 2019 (Gephardt Daily) — A total of 15 officers have been placed on administrative leave following a fatal officer-involved shooting Monday that involved more than a dozen crime scenes, multiple law enforcement agencies and covered an area stretching several square miles.
A news release released by Salt Lake City Police Department Tuesday morning contains new details of the incident:
“There are multiple officers who have been placed on administrative leave, which is standard protocol for this type of incident. Salt Lake City Police Department has 10 officers on administrative leave, Utah Highway Patrol has thee officers on administrative leave, and Unified Police Department has two officers on administrative leave.”
The deceased suspect was identified Monday afternoon as Harold Vincent Robinson, 37, of West Valley City.
The news release described the timeline of the incident:
â At 10:05 a.m. Unified Police received a call of a man with a gun at the Holiday Oil, 2729 W. 4700 South, in Taylorsville. A report was made of a male attempting to steal a case of beer. When he was confronted by a customer, the male suspect pulled a handgun from his waistband and fled the scene. The man was described as bearded, balding on top, wearing a green sweater and blue jeans. He left in a white, older model Ford F-350 Utah license plate 1B7MM.
â At 10:37 a.m., Unified Police received a call of a robbery at the 7-Eleven located at 911 E. 3300 South. A male entered the store, presented a firearm and demanded money from the cash register. As the man left he fired the handgun inside the store. No injuries were reported. The man left the scene in an older model Ford pickup truck.
â At 10:42 a.m., SLC 911 received calls reporting shots fired at the Sheraton Hotel located at 150 W. 500 South. Several individuals called and gave a vehicle description of an older model, white Ford truck. The male was reported to have driven west to 400 West and then turning north. The suspect then was observed turning east on South Temple Street, and then turned south on Main Street. At approximately 10:44 a.m., the male again fired his weapon in front of 111 South Main St. and continued driving. At approximately 10:51 a.m., the male was again observed by citizens firing his weapon at 500 South State St. and then continuing to drive. At approximately 10:53 a.m., the male fired his weapon at a vehicle near 500 South and 200 East.
â At approximately 10:55 a.m., officers located the vehicle driving South on State Street. Officers from Salt Lake City Police and Utah Highway Patrol began following the vehicle and attempted to pull it over. While following the truck, officers continued to see the driver firing his weapon from his vehicle. Officers attempted to use spike strips to stop the vehicle, but they were not successful. A modified pit maneuver was attempted at 3300 S. State St. Shortly after, the suspect vehicle crashed at 3339 S. State, at which time shots were exchanged with the suspect and officers.
Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brown told assembled reporters Monday afternoon that one UPD officer was injured from a ricochet, and he has very minor injuries.
He added there are multiple scenes throughout Salt Lake City, so any witnesses that saw anything, or who have property damage are asked to contact the SLCPD.
Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera also spoke:
“We have a lot going on, but we are asking the public, if you heard or saw anything please call us. We need to hear from people, we need to make sure everyone that saw something comes forward.”
Businessman Douglas Strate told Gephardt Daily he was on his way downtown when he encountered the gunman firsthand. Strate said he and his friend were stopped at the traffic light at 200 East and 500 South when a pickup truck sped their way.
“This big white pickup truck pulls up right up next to us on the passenger side, my buddy was looking face to face with him, and he made a comment, like ‘What the f—‘s going on,’ or something, I don’t know the exact words he said, but something to that effect,” Strate said. “And then he just opened fire and put two shots into the hood of my car and my buddy just made a comment like ‘What the f—‘s going on,’ and he unloaded six or seven more shots into my hood and just took off, went east on 500 South.
“He just shot at the car, he wasn’t out to kill anybody it didn’t seem like, cause there’d be a lot of people dead,” Strate added. “If he wanted people dead, there would have been quite a few people dead, I would imagine. It all happened in five seconds probably, so at first I thought it was all fake, I didn’t think it was real, the first two shots. He pulled a gun out, and he didn’t say much, and then he shot the two shots and then my buddy made the comment and then he all of a sudden shoots six more shots and then that’s when I realized that, wow, this is real shots going on here, and then he was gone.”
Strate said the gun appeared to be an AR-15. Strate’s vehicle is dead, he added, and will not start.
His friend, Russell Allen, said he locked eyes with the gunman.
“As I look over at him and we lock eyes, he fires off two rounds, pop pop, and I was like, ‘What the f— Motherf—–‘ and he said ‘What did you say Motherf—–‘ and pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, he unloads what he had and I said ‘F— you Motherf—– and then he drove away.” Allen said. “Here you are just minding your own business in downtown Salt Lake, and it could have been my daughter growing up without me.”
Allen said the man had bloodshot eyes and appeared to be under the influence.
A witness to the latter part of the incident, Manoli Katsanevas, was driving from Low Book Sales, at 3371 S. State St.
“I was driving, and the truck must have crashed right before I got out of Low Book Sales,” Katsanevas told Gephardt Daily.
“Next thing I know, cops are coming over the island, about like nine or 10 of them. Before I could even comprehend what had happened there, shots started firing off, and I kind of had to get into a situation of what am I going to do here.
“I just threw my car in reverse and went right back down the road to where I came from, I didn’t want to mess with any of that, there were probably 30 shots fired throughout the whole thing, too. I was close enough to hear all the ricochets and hear the shots whizzing right past me. It definitely was a traumatic experience.”
The West Valley City-led protocol team is handling this investigation of the officer-involved shooting.
Gephardt Daily will have more on this developing story as information is made available.
To share information about this incident with the SLCPD call 801-799-3000. To remain anonymous, text crime tips to 274637. Start the text with the keyword TIPSLCPD (which routes it to SLCPD), then a space, followed by the relevant information or photos. Reference: crimetip.
