NORTH SALT LAKE, Utah, May 25, 2018 (Gephardt Daily) — A North Salt Lake man police say was engaged in an armed domestic dispute was taken into custody Thursday night.
“Myself and a couple other officers were dispatched to an active domestic violence call,” said Sgt. Terry Fritz, North Salt Lake Police Department. “The male party had a gun and he was threatening a female party.”
Police talked with the suspect, later identified as 22-year-old Devion Rico Cunningham, and convinced him to exit the residence, near 100 S. Main St.
“The suspect came out the back door, and had the weapon in his hand, and he held it down to his side,” Fritz said. “We challenged him and he was not complying.
“An officer actually deployed less lethal beanbag rounds. It was successful. We were able to take him into custody with no further injury.”
Fritz said he believes three beanbags were fired, and struck Cunningham, stunning him enough that police could get the upper hand. That happened about 20 minutes after officers arrived, Fritz estimated.
“It was an extremely good day for us,” he said. “Not all situations happen this way obviously. There are days when we have to use lethal, but with this, option for less lethal capabilities were there.”
Fritz said the suspect would be transported to a hospital to be checked out, then booked into jail. At 4:33 a.m., Cunningham was booked into the Davis County Jail on charges of aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, interference with an officer, and three counts of commission of domestic violence in the presence of a child.
Because a weapon was deployed, even through it was non-lethal, Fritz said both North Salt Lake’s and the neighboring agency Woods Cross police departments will investigate the incident.
