This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Officials of the Salt Lake branch of the NAACP announced Monday that they had asked the U.S. Department of Justice to conduct an independent investigation of the Sept. 10 shooting of 22-year-old Darrien Hunt — who was black — by two Saratoga Springs police officers.
Branch President Jeanetta Williams said the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People formally asked the federal department last week to conduct an investigation to determine if Hunt's civil rights were violated, whether the tactics used were consistent with police policy and if the use of deadly force was justified.
"We do not want our young people to look at police officers as their executioners, but as authority of safety," said Williams.
Melodie Rydalch, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office, said Monday that they "acknowledge the NAACP's request" but could not comment about investigations.
One week ago, Utah County Attorney Jeff Buhman announced that his office had determined the officers were justified in using deadly force against Hunt, who allegedly swung a samurai-style sword at the officers.
Hunt was shot six times by the officers — Cpl. Matt Schauerhamer and Officer Nicholas Judson — after they responded to two 911 callers reporting a man walking with a sword near Redwood Road and State Road 73.
Williams said the NAACP believes that Hunt's civil rights were violated that day, and that there was no justification for the officers to shoot Hunt as he ran away from them.
"We need more folks looking at and investigating [the shooting,]" she said.
When Williams was asked whether she thought Hunt's race played a part in the fatal shooting, she said, "I think a large part of it was because he was African-American," adding that Saratoga Springs is largely a white community with a very small black population.
Hunt's family has said they believe the officers fired on Hunt, in part, because he was black. But Buhman said last week that he found "no evidence whatsoever" that race was a factor.
Williams said the NAACP is also asking the justice department to make recommendations for the police department, including suggested changes in how officials review use-of-force incidents. She also said the civil rights organization would like all Utah law enforcement to be wearing body cameras and to establish a citizen review board.
Attorney Robert Sykes, who represents Hunt's mother, Susan Hunt, and other family members, said during Monday's press conference that they are concerned because they haven't received all of the information that the county attorney's office relied on to make its justified ruling.
"We know we do not yet have a complete picture," Sykes said. "...We do have a lot of pieces of the puzzle."
Sykes said that based on all of the evidence that they have received, they don't believe Hunt showed any signs of aggression that September day.
"The county attorney claims Darrien swung a sword," Sykes said. "From what we know, we don't believe that."
Buhman said Monday afternoon that he didn't think an outside investigation by federal authorities was "necessary."
"But we welcome any review," he added.
When asked about Sykes' assertion that his office has withheld information, Buhman said he instructed his staff to release information only after his Nov. 3 ruling that the shooting was justified.
"Maybe they didn't get it when they wanted to get it," Buhman said. "We did not release it before we finalized the investigation."
Buhman said last week that no criminal charges would be filed against either officer, both of whom fired a total of three shots after Hunt swung his sword at them.
Schauerhamer then chased Hunt toward another business and fired three more rounds — one of which county attorney investigators believe to be the fatal shot.
On Monday, Sykes also pointed to video surveillance of nearby businesses that showed snippets of the final moments of Hunt's life. He said it was irresponsible for Schauerhamer to fire his gun while chasing Hunt in a populated area.
"It's a chilling thing to watch this young man running at top speed and seeing the officer open fire, right adjacent to Redwood Road," Sykes said.
Hunt's aunt, Cindy Moss, told reporters Monday that is was difficult for the family to watch those videos.
"We're struggling with the honesty of the police department," Moss said. "Of the [county attorney's] office and their investigating."
Attorney Scott Evans, who represents the victim's father, Curtis Hunt, said Monday they would welcome a federal investigation and hope it would answer questions that the family is still asking.
"Angles of [bullet] entry? Number of shots fired?" the attorney said. "Why is there a statement that the officer had to reload? Things like that."
Owen Jackson, public information officer for Saratoga Springs, said Monday that the city and police department "welcome any other official investigation."
According to Buhman's written findings, Hunt told Schaerhamer and Judson that he was looking for a ride to Orem.
Schauerhamer said he offered a ride but told Hunt he was not allowed to get into the patrol car with his sword. Members of Hunt's family have called the replica katana sword a "toy" used for cosplay, but Buhman said it had a sharp point and blade.
It was "not sharpened to 'professional' standards, but was not ... intentionally dulled," Buhman said.
After the officers told Hunt he could not take the sword into the car, Hunt, "abruptly, without provocation" swung the sword at the officers, Buhman said, pointing to statements by the officers and by two witnesses near the Top Stop.
Both officers discharged their firearms to prevent their own death or serious bodily injury," Buhman said. Investigators believe at least two of those first three shots wounded Hunt, who began to run away, still holding his sword.
Schauerhamer gave chase as Hunt approached a Panda Express restaurant. Schauerhamer said he worried Hunt would come around the corner and "hack the first person he saw," Buhman recounted.
"[Hunt] continued to carry in his hand an unsheathed samurai type sword, even after two officers shot at and likely wounded him" and ignored Schauerhamer's orders to drop it, Buhman said.
Buhman said seven shots were fired between the two officers; six bullets hit Hunt and one appeared to hit the grass near the Panda Express. Schauerhamer fired six shots, while Judson fired once.
Asked why Hunt became violent, Buhman said investigators did "some digging" but ultimately, they don't know.
"It's unlikely we will find out," he said.
Utah medical examiner Pamela Ulmer concluded that Hunt's cause of death was "multiple gunshots" — with the direction of fire of four of the six shots being "posterior to anterior," or from back to front. Ulmer described the direction of two other bullets, which struck Hunt's arms as, "downward," and "left to right and slightly downward."
Ulmer said one bullet penetrated Hunt's right back and lodged in his lung, while other bullets struck him in the right upper arm, right forearm, left upper arm, left elbow and left hip.
Ulmer found no traces of illegal drugs in Hunt's blood. According to the search warrant affidavit, Hunt's family allegedly told investigators that Darrien Hunt had been making and using dimethyltryptamine, a hallucinogen also know as DMT, in the weeks before the fatal shooting.
Twitter: @jm_miller