This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A 36-year-old man was critically injured Monday evening after brandished a knife at a Riverton homeowner, who shot the man, police said.
The injured man was visiting a friend's home near 11600 South on Winford Drive (about 1800 West) in Riverton just before 11 p.m. He was intoxicated, Unified Police Department officials said, when he went outside his friend's home, took his pants off and approached a car with two teens inside.
The teenagers in the car called their mother at their home nearby, and she opened their garage door. The teens were able to run inside their home, according to police, but the 36-year-old man followed them into the garage and tried to get inside the home.
The teens' father confronted the man in the garage with his gun, according to Unified Police officials, but the man refused to leave and brandished a knife.
"Some type of struggle ensued,"UPD Lt. Brian Lohrke wrote in a news release, "and the homeowner shot [the man] multiple times."
The man was struck by bullets in the chest and jaw.
When police arrived, the homeowner put the gun down, but police say the injured man stood up and started toward the weapon.
But before the man could reach the gun, officers grabbed it. The man then tried to get inside the home again, but officers used a Taser to stop him. He was arrested and taken to a hospital.
He was initially admitted in critical condition, according to police, but was later upgraded to serious condition.