This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill on Tuesday found that a Sandy police officer responding to a domestic-violence call last month was justified in shooting an armed suspect who was critically injured but survived.
In his decision, Gill said Ivan Clarence Kaumans was ordered many times to drop the rifle but instead pointed it at Clayton Swensen and other police officers near him.
"We believe Officer Swensen's use of deadly force against Mr. Kaumans was reasonably necessary to prevent Officer Swensen's and the other officers' apparent imminent death or serious bodily injury as a result of Mr. Kauman's own unlawful use of deadly force." Gill wrote in a letter to Sandy Police Chief Kevin Thacker and Murray Chief Craig Burnett, whose department investigated the shooting.
According to the DA's Office, Kaumans' wife, Marty Kaumans, called 911 on Oct. 2 to report that her husband was intoxicated and threatening her and their son with a knife. She also said Ivan Kaumans had a rifle — which she believed was unloaded — and was threatening to shoot people.
When Sandy police arrived, Kaumans came out to the front yard with a rifle, and Swensen said he yelled at him several times to drop the gun. The officer said Kaumans manipulated the rifle's action, brought it up to his shoulder and aimed it at him.
Swensen said he believed that whether or not the rifle had been unloaded up to that point, it appeared that Kaumans had loaded it. He fired his AR-15 rifle at Kaumans, hitting him in the arm and chest.
Kaumans, 56, has been charged in 3rd District Court with five counts of aggravated assault, which are third-degree felonies, and one class B misdemeanor count of damage to or interruption of a communication device. A scheduling hearing is set for Monday.
Twitter: @PamelaMansonSLC