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The widow of an armed man who was fatally shot two years ago by Centerville police after he allegedly pointed a handgun at officers has filed a lawsuit against the city claiming wrongful death and civil rights violations.
The suit, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court by Molly Farrand, claims Vincent John Farrand had placed his gun on the ground but an officer opened fire "for no justifiable reason" and shot him twice in the back.
Farrand, 38, was pronounced dead at the scene about 20 minutes after the April 13, 2014, shooting, according to the suit. The Davis County Attorney's Office later ruled the shooting justified.
The suit seeks an unspecified amount of money in damages.
Centerville police officials could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday night. At the time of the shooting, then-Assistant Police Chief Paul Child, who is now chief, said Farrand was suicidal and officers were forced to shoot him after he answered pleas to surrender by pointing a handgun at them.
The incident began with a 911 call from Molly Farrand, who told a dispatcher that her husband was upset with a male acquaintance he thought had made an inappropriate advance toward her. She said Vincent Farrand had a gun and was driving to the other man's home in Bountiful, according to the suit.
She also told the dispatcher that Farrand was suicidal.
The suit says officers were told within minutes of the original dispatch that Farrand had not left to go after the other man, but three officers still came to his home.
Farrand came out of the home with a gun in his waistband and laid it down immediately upon an officer's request, the suit says.
But Child has described the incident differently.
"While one officer stayed with [the wife] the other two officers confronted Vincent in the front yard," Child said the day after the shooting. "One officer asked Vincent several times to put the gun down and to take his finger off of the trigger. The officer ... pled with him to put the gun down."
Instead, Farrand pointed the handgun at one of the officers and an officer fired four shots, striking him, according to police.
— Tribune reporter Michael McFall contributed to this story.
Twitter: @PamelaMansonSLC