This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated.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 knife-wielding suicidal man, allegedly having begun a countdown to death for a teenage girl he had taken hostage in his Eagle Mountain home, was shot and killed Sunday by a Utah County sheriff's deputy.
The man was identified Monday as 23-year-old Daniel Bennett Edwards.
Sheriff's Sgt. Spencer Cannon said deputies were sent Sunday at 8:32 p.m. to an Eagle Mountain home on Summit Way, where the suspect's wife had reported he was threatening to kill himself — and was holding his 17-year-old niece against her will.
"The man's wife called telling dispatchers that her husband had a knife," Cannon said. "The woman and two young children were outside the home and her husband was inside the home with the 17-year-old female relative as a hostage."
Deputies initially were able to talk with Edwards, but he broke off the intermittent attempts at negotiation several times over the next hour. He then began telling them he would "kill the hostage in 60 seconds."
Convinced other options were gone, several deputies burst into the home to find Edwards holding the girl and threatening her with a large kitchen knife.
"When the threat to the victim's life became immediate, a deputy fired one shot at the suspect, killing him," Cannon said Monday.
When the threat to the girl's life was specifically determined to be "immediate" was not detailed.
Cannon did confirm that Edwards was killed by a gunshot to the head.
The girl was emotionally traumatized, but she escaped with minor injuries, Cannon said.
Edwards' body was turned over to the state Medical Examiner's Office for an autopsy.
The deputy involved in the shooting was placed on paid administrative leave while the incident is reviewed, per protocol, Cannon said.
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Suicide can be prevented
If you or someone you know may be experiencing suicidal thoughts, please call: 24-Hour National Suicide Prevention Hotline 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
If you or someone else is in immediate danger, please call 9-1-1.
Utah also has crisis lines statewide, http://dsamh.utah.gov/crisis-hotlines-2/