A Salt Lake City police officer shot a 32-year-old man early Thursday during a traffic stop that police say the man wasn’t involved in.
The man had a weapon, police said in a news release, and before he was shot, he approached the officer after the officer had pulled someone else over at about 1:40 a.m. near 375 S. 765 West. The kind of weapon he allegedly had was not specified, and police did not release any more information about what happened before the shooting.
He was taken to a hospital in critical condition, making him the fifth person in Utah in less than two weeks to be shot at during a police encounter. Each of the other four individuals, who ranged in age from 17 to 42, are dead.
Of the five, all are men, and law enforcement said at least four were armed with some sort of weapon. At least three were suspected of crimes.
As is customary when an officer shoots someone, Thursday’s Salt Lake City police shooting is now under investigation by an outside police agency. The involved officer was placed on paid administrative leave.
Salt Lake City police did not immediately provide further updates on the wounded man’s condition. No one else was injured.
The shooting followed a slew of police killings that began Dec. 30, when — after responding to a “domestic issue” in West Point, two Clinton City police officers shot and killed Nathan Paul, 42. His family told a Davis County Sheriff’s Office deputy who responded that Paul “was possibly suffering a mental health episode.”
On Jan. 1, police officers in West Valley City found 67-year-old Kerry Bertelsen and his wife, Terri Bertelsen, 63, dead inside their home, where they lived with their 35-year-old son, Erik Bertelsen.
Officers encountered Erik Bertelsen alive during the response, and one fatally shot him “during the confrontation,” West Valley City police said. The agency has not released a possible motive behind the parents’ alleged killings.
The next evening, on Jan. 2, six law enforcement agencies began chasing arson suspect Tanner Cottrell, 27, throughout Salt Lake County and Salt Lake City. He reportedly shot at them at multiple points.
After he flipped his vehicle and crashed at about 12:30 a.m. on Jan. 3, an unspecified “officer-involved critical-incident” left Cottrell dead. Information released by Salt Lake City police has not specified what killed Cottrell, though in an update posted to social media as the call unfolded, the agency said shots were fired from both the suspect and officers during the pursuit.
“The medical examiner’s office will determine the cause and manner of death,” a news release from the agency states.
Salt Lake City police previously said that the seven officers involved were placed on administrative leave but did not specify Thursday afternoon how many shots were fired.
Later that same day, on Jan. 3, a 17-year-old fired at South Jordan police officers when they responded to a vehicle-theft call and found him in the car. He fled on foot and was found in a backyard, where “officers from multiple agencies flooded the area.”
More shots were fired – though the agency’s news release did not specify whether they came from the teen or officers — and the child died after being taken to a hospital. Police have not identified him because he was a minor, a South Jordan spokesperson said.
Correction • Jan. 9, 4:50 p.m.: This story has been updated to note that Salt Lake City police previously released information noting that the seven officers involved in the Jan. 3 “officer-involved critical-incident” were all placed on administrative leave.
