Update: Police have identified the man who was shot and killed after reportedly charging officers with a knife during a burglary in Roy. He is 37-year-old Donald Joseph Lee.
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Ogden • An Ogden police officer early Wednesday shot and killed a man who used a hammer to burglarize a Roy medical clinic and pharmacy and then charged officers with a knife, police chiefs from two cities said.
The suspect’s name was not released Wednesday morning. No police officers were injured nor was the janitor who called police. The burglary and shooting happened at Tanner Clinic, 3443 W. 5600 South in Roy, though it was an Ogden police officer who killed the suspect.
At a joint news conference later Wednesday at Ogden’s Public Safety Building, Roy Police Chief Carl Merino described how about 1:30 a.m. a janitor at the clinic saw a masked burglar break into the clinic with a hammer.
“She was in a terrible situation,” Merino said of the worker. “She saw him burst through a window masked up with a hammer.”
The woman barricaded herself in an office and called 911, Merino said. Roy police, as well as officers from the county sheriff’s office, Ogden and Weber State University responded to the clinic.
Ogden Police Chief Randy Watt said officers quickly decided to enter the clinic to protect the janitor. An Ogden officer and his or her K9 were among those who entered to look for the suspect. Watt said the officers were sure to take “less lethal” weapons with them.
Watt said officers found the suspect in a hallway and gave him multiple commands to drop the hammer. An officer also fired bean bag rounds from a shotgun, Watt said. The rounds deliver a blow to the body without penetrating it.
The suspect ran into an office. As officers were looking for him again, Watt said, the man emerged from the office with a knife he was holding in what Watt called a threatening manner as he approached officers.
“The contact was at such close quarters,” Watt said, “the officers had no choice but to fire rounds from the pistols to defend themselves.”
Watt said one Ogden officer fired from a 9 mm pistol. Watt and Merino said they believed an officer from another department, though not theirs, also fired, but they seemed unsure. The Weber County Attorney’s Office is investigating the shooting. The Ogden officer is on administrative leave pending that investigation.
Watt said the suspect fell to the floor with the police dog biting his leg. The dog had to be pulled away so officers could aid the suspect.
The man was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Merino said after breaking into the clinic, the suspect stole medications from its pharmacy. Merino didn’t know what kind of medications were taken.
Watt said his officers and those from Roy had body cameras and those are being reviewed.
Investigators were still at the clinic late Wednesday morning. The clinic was closed and yellow police tape cordoned the building and half the parking lot. The clinic’s emergency lights were still flashing on the exterior fire alarms.
Tribune reporter Scott D. Pierce contributed to this report.
