ROY, Utah — One man is dead after an hours-long standoff escalated to an officer-involved shooting Friday night.
Sergeant Josh Taylor with the Roy Police Department said the incident started around 7:20 p.m. when officers were dispatched to Orchard Cove Apartments near 1801 West 4650 South to reports of a 39-year-old man threatening suicide.
Once on scene, officers learned that the man had a firearm, and that other people were inside the apartment.
“Shortly after officers made contact, he was seen multiple times with a firearm,” said Taylor, “So we did evacuate all the residents in the building as well as anybody in the apartment itself.”
After nearly three hours of negotiation attempts, two officers, one from Roy PD, the other from Ogden PD, fired at the man, who later died at the scene. No other injuries were reported.
“It’s sad and scary too you know, anything with gun violence in general,” said Nathan Kee, who lives at the complex, “I wish maybe there was something that he could have done or someone he could have talked to that maybe all this could have been averted.”
It’s unclear whether the man aimed his gun at police.
“My understanding is that there was a threat presented with the firearm,” explained Taylor, “Again, I don't know if that was raised at officers, raised at somebody else or what it was, but there was a threat that was posed towards the officers.”
According to a data analysis by the Salt Lake Tribune in 2021,at least 42% of officer-involved shootings in Utah in that past decade involved someone in crisis or who was suicidal.
“For us, for a mental health response, it's just very unpredictable. Obviously, we're there to try and get people help and do what we can to help them, but it's just unpredictable and, you know, people going through mental health crisis can sometimes just be unpredictable,” said Taylor.
Taylor said Friday’s situation was particularly challenging,
“At least in this instance there was kind of a significant threat to a lot of the other residents in the apartment complex as well with the firearms and stuff like that,” he said.
He said all officers at the Roy Police Department, including those who responded Friday are trained in mental health crisis situations.
He added the mobile crisis team was on standby waiting for the man to be taken into custody.
FOX 13 asked him whether police officers are the right responders to these types of scenes.
“I don’t know if I’m the correct person to answer that question,” said Taylor, “Like I said it’s always unpredictable. Our main goal and the reason we go through so much training is to end these things peacefully. That is our end goal when we respond to these things. Maybe we’re not always the best person but I mean we have the tools equipped in case it does get violent in situations like this.”
If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, know that help is available. Please call the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988.
