A Utah Transit Authority officer investigating a robbery at a Central Ninth neighborhood TRAX station Thursday night shot a man matching the description of the suspect after the man allegedly pointed a knife at UTA police.
Around 9 p.m., someone approached two UTA officers at the TRAX platform near 900 South and 200 West and reported that they had been robbed, according to a UTA news release. The victim gave the officers a description of the robber, the release states.
The officers later found a man they thought may be the suspect. During that confrontation, the man allegedly pulled out a knife and one UTA officer shot the man. The news release said the officer fired in self-defense.
The 50-year-old man was then taken to a hospital in critical condition. Both officers were uninjured. As of Friday afternoon, there was no update on the man’s condition.
Both UTA officers were placed on paid administrative leave. The shooting marked the first time a UTA officer has fired in a police shooting since at least 2004, according to a database maintained by The Salt Lake Tribune. It marked the 13th police shooting in Utah so far this year.
West Valley City police are investigating the shooting.
