This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A burglary suspect shot by police on Sunday remained in critical condition on Monday, police said.
Police officials say Joby James Romano, a 46-year-old from Levan, was shot in the face Sunday morning by a Murray police officer after Romano allegedly brandished a pellet gun at a public park.
Sandy police officials — who are investigating the shooting to avoid conflict — said in a Monday press statement that the incident was not captured by a body-camera of dashboard-camera.
"The Murray police officer involved in the shooting was off-duty, on his way to work," the statement says. "...He had not yet picked up his body-cam from the police department to begin his shift."
The officer's identity has not been released, though Sandy police Sgt. Dean Carriger said the officer has been with Murray police for three years.
Police identified Romano by his fingerprints, Carriger said.
On Sunday, citizens called police just after 10 a.m. with reports of a suspicious man who had allegedly burglarizing a motorhome near Murray's Southwood Park at 6150 S. 728 East. One witness to the alleged burglary followed the suspect and saw him walk into a park restroom, Carriger said.
One officer went inside and encountered a man who matched the suspect description. They had a "minor confrontation," and the suspect left the restroom, Carriger said. The officer followed him to a grassy area and spotted what appeared to be a handgun in the suspect's waistband.
"He pulled that from his waistband and began turning toward the officer with it in hand," Carriger said, at which point the officer shot him in the cheek.
Investigators said they later learned that what the officer thought to be a handgun was a black pellet gun, "consistent in appearance with a real handgun," according to a Sandy police news release. "It could be difficult to identify it as a pellet gun without actually handling it."
Twitter: @jm_miller