Salt Lake police officer won’t face charges in seemingly accidental shooting that injured a man

A Salt Lake City police officer was not legally justified when he shot and injured a suspect when he appeared to accidentally fire blindly into a wall of thick grass, the Salt Lake County District Attorney said Friday — but the officer will not face criminal charges.

While a civilian would be susceptible to a felony discharge of a firearm charge if they unintentionally shot under the same circumstances, District Attorney Sim Gill said Friday that Utah law exempts working officers from being charged under that statute.

Gill said prosecutors also considered a count of misdemeanor reckless endangerment, but did not find evidence to support the charge.

Thus, Gill said Friday, while officer Mitchell Bailey wasn’t legally justified — meaning he did not reasonably believe his deadly use of force was necessary to prevent death serious injury to himself or others — in firing his gun last June, prosecutors would not charge him with a criminal offense for doing so.

Bailey remains employed by the Salt Lake City Police Department, spokesman Brent Weisberg said. He declined to answer additional questions about the case, including whether they believe Bailey followed department training that night, because of their ongoing internal investigation.

In a statement, Police Chief Brian Redd said the department’s “focus remains on learning and improving as a police department” and will thoroughly review the case.

“We take every officer-involved critical incident seriously to examine our policies, procedures and training,” Redd said. “Our priority is making sure our officers have the necessary skills to safely and effectively respond to high-risk, rapidly evolving and challenging situations.”

The injured man, Bobby Joe Caster, was ultimately taken to the hospital for treatment for a “serious injury” to his finger. He was never arrested or charged.

What happened?

Around 12:30 a.m. on June 29, 2024, Bailey and fellow Salt Lake City officer Val Brown were dispatched to assist Utah Highway Patrol troopers looking for whoever was driving an apparently stolen pickup they had attempted to pull over minutes earlier, according to the finding letter Gill sent to Redd and shared with reporters.

The driver fled and the truck, and an attached trailer, were soon abandoned on 700 South and 5600 West. Troopers were searching for its occupants when they heard rustling in the nearby tall grass, the letter said. They called Salt Lake City police to assist them with one of their K9 units.

Brown and his dog looked around for about 9 minutes when the K9 led him into a thicket, where they found Caster. Brown yelled for him to show his hands.

Bailey was following as his colleague disappeared into the grass, which was high enough to tower over both of them. Bailey carried a flash light in his left hand, and raised his gun in his right as approached the dense grass. He fired before his hands met to stabilize the gun.

“Oh s---,” he yelled, body camera footage shows, as he kept his gun trained on the grass in front of him. Beyond, Caster laid repeating, “He shot me.”

As prosecutors watched the film, Gill said it seemed that Bailey hadn’t meant to fire and “he was taken by surprise” when the gun went off. They don’t know this for sure, in part because Bailey declined to be interviewed for their investigation.

But Gill said the evidence his office did have — body camera footage and statements from other officers — showed that Bailey likely shot the unarmed Caster by accident.

For one, it does not seem possible from what other officers reported that Bailey would have been able see Caster when he fired. There was also no evidence to indicate Caster had a gun, Gill said.

Trooper James Auger told investigators, according to the letter, that he recalled Salt Lake City officers walking through the tall grass. He couldn’t remember if he heard Brown yelling for Caster to show his hands first, or if the shot came first, “but next thing you know, there’s like a shot and we’re just like, ‘What the hell?’”

“And so I drop my [flashlight] and I draw my gun. I turn my light on my gun and I just rush directly,” Auger said. Once he got through the grass, he found Caster on the ground saying, “He shot my hand off,” Auger remembered.

Another man was also detained that night, but he was not booked into jail.

The Utah Highway Patrol has not handed over the case to Gill’s office for review. No one has been charged in the case.

A Utah Highway Patrol spokesperson did not immediately respond Friday afternoon to The Salt Lake Tribune’s request for comment on the case’s status.