SALT LAKE CITY — Hours after a man was shot and killed by Salt Lake City police officers early Tuesday for allegedly holding a deadly weapon and refusing to comply with orders, the department has yet to say what kind of weapon the suspect had.
During an afternoon briefing, police said they were continuing to withhold the identify of the 35-year-old man until next of kin were notified. A few minutes later, the department identified the suspect as Cameron Ammon Cloward.
However, police continued to describe the weapon in question as a "deadly weapon" in their most recent update.
"Due to the ongoing investigation, and the need for additional witness interviews to be conducted, the specific type of deadly weapon is not being released," the update read.
Just before 2:30 a.m., officials received word of a man with a weapon in the area of 875 South State Street.
A man was shot & killed by SLCPD early this morning near 900 So State St., the critical incident protocol team is now in place and State Street is completely shut down at 900 S. & State, we are gathering details & will have updates on Good Day Utah pic.twitter.com/QAjAMDXJ2x
— scott mckane (@macfox13) April 2, 2024
When officers arrived in the area, they found Cloward in the parking lot with a weapon who challenged officers and refused to comply with their orders. Eventually, the situation escalated, resulting in four Salt Lake City Police officers firing four shots at Cloward.
"Four officers opened fire, and all of them are now on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation, and one that is being conducted by the critical incident protocol team," Weisberg said.
Police said medical air was rendered immediately, but Cloward died of his injuries at the scene.
No officers or other civilians were injured in the situation.
“The public may never fully realize or understand the volatile, dangerous, and often unpredictable situations our officers face,” said Chief Mike Brown in a statement. “This investigation will gather additional facts, but I am relieved there were no other physical injuries to our officers or other community members. The safety of our city remains our number one priority.”
After the deadly incident, traffic on State Street was shut down in both directions from 800 to 900 South pending an investigation.
The West Jordan Police OICI Protocol Team will now take over the investigation to determine exactly what led up to the shooting.
