Man kills self after shootout with police in Taylorsville

A man who reportedly exchanged gunfire with a Taylorsville police officer on Thursday morning shot himself to death, police said.

According to law enforcement, the officer responded to a report of a suspicious vehicle at a Speedway gas station at 2187 W. 4700 South at about 4:20 a.m. on Thursday. When the officer approached the car, a man sprinted away and the officer ran after him.

After a short chase, the suspect fired several shots at the officer, police said, and the officer returned fire before taking cover.

Neither the officer nor the suspect was hit, but a resident at a nearby assisted living center located at 2011 W. 4700 South was hit by broken glass or shrapnel from a bullet that struck the building during the shootout, according to Taylorsville Police Chief Brady Cottam. The resident was treated for a minor wound and taken to a family member’s home.

Personnel from several police agencies searched the area for the suspect. Roads — including 4700 South — were shut down, and residents were told to remain in their homes.

At about 7 a.m., a 12-year-old who lives in a nearby home spotted the suspect in a window well, the boy told FOX 13, and the sixth-grader alerted his parents. They called 911.

As police converged on the man, he “took his own life,” Cottam said. The man’s body was found in the window well of another home just south of 4700 South. He has not yet been identified.

“We believe that the area is safe at this point,” the chief said. “There’s no reason for us, at this point, to believe that there [are] any outstanding suspects.”

Police continue to investigate the shootout. It marked the 27th police shooting in Utah this year, according to a Salt Lake Tribune database, and it marked the third time this week that police officers in Utah have fired their weapon at someone.

A West Jordan police officer shot and wounded man on Sunday, and an Ogden police officer shot and wounded man on Monday.