EAGLE MOUNTAIN, Utah, June 12, 2016 (Gephardt Daily) — A hostage situation in Eagle Mountain ended Sunday night when an officer shot and killed a suspect who was physically threatening a teen girl with a knife.
Utah County Sheriff Sgt. Spencer Cannon said deputies responded to a home on Summit Way just after 8:30 p.m. when dispatchers received a call from the suspect’s wife.
“It came in as a domestic issue with a threat of suicide,” Cannon said. “When our officers arrived, the man was holding a 17-year-old family member at knifepoint. The wife and two other children managed to leave the home.”
Cannon said deputies made contact with the suspect a couple of times over an hour, but he would not give up.
“He disengaged with the officers a couple of times, and at one point he told them they had 60 seconds, but would not say what he was going to do when the time ran up,” Cannon said.
“He was physically holding the girl when our officers entered the home. Based on his actions and his verbal threats to kill her while holding a large butcher style knife up to the girl, our deputies felt she was in immediate danger and one of them fired one shot at the suspect.”
Cannon said the 23-year-old suspect died at the scene. The identity of the man has not yet been released.
Eagle Mountain published a notice on Facebook just before 10 p.m. asking residents in the area to stay in their homes and others to avoid the area. It was still an active into early Monday morning.
