This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A man shot during a weekend confrontation with police near Salt Lake City's Smith's Ballpark is expected to survive.
Salt Lake City police Sgt. Robin Heiden also confirmed Monday that the man, reportedly identified by family as 28-year-old Palm Samieul Lautaimi, had been armed with a handgun during the Sunday afternoon incident — but she declined to release his identity, or that of the two officers involved, noting that the suspect had not yet been arrested or charged.
To avoid conflict of interest, the investigation into the 4 p.m. Sunday shooting near 1340 S. Main St. is being conducted by the neighboring West Valley City Police Department.
WVCPD detectives did not respond Monday to questions about their probe.
The incident began when the two officers attempted to stop Lautaimi on the sidewalk to talk to him about an undisclosed matter. Moments later, he allegedly "became violent," Heiden said. He fled on foot with the officers in pursuit, a short time later, shots were fired.
Questions about how many shots were fired, where on his body Lautaimi was wounded, and whether he had threatened to shoot or had actually fired his gun at officers, were left unanswered.
"At this point, he has not been arrested or charged. He did have a gun [in his hand] ... but we aren't disclosing more in order to protect his due process rights," Heiden said.
Lautaimi was initially in critical condition when taken to the hospital, but he had been stabilized and was reported to be in serious condition Monday.
The involved officers — both of whom were men, on the job less than five years — have been placed on paid administrative leave pending results of the shooting review, as is typical in such cases.
Heiden said that both officers were wearing active body video cameras at the time of the incident. That body cam footage has been turned over to the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office, but it will not be released to the public at this time in order to "ensure a fair and impartial trial."
A search of court records for Lautaimi showed third-degree felony convictions in 2007 for firing a gun from a vehicle during a driveby shooting and possession of a weapon by a restricted person.
Twitter: @remims