This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
Centerville • Fearing an erratic driver might plow into Centerville and West Bountiful Independence Day parades, law enforcement chased and eventually shot to death a Davis County man Tuesday morning on Legacy Parkway, which was shut down for hours.
Centerville identified the man as 32-year-old Cody McCray, of West Bountiful.
Police would not say whether McCray was armed, but said he was known to local law enforcement officials.
McCray died on Legacy Parkway one mile north of Parrish Lane in Centerville after being shot by a trooper with the Utah Highway Patrol.
"This was tense, very scary and ended up being a very sad situation," said Centerville Police Chief Paul Child.
Legacy Parkway remained closed in both directions for hours — reopening just before 5 p.m. — as multiple law enforcement agencies and a representative of the Davis County attorney's office investigated.
Police in the Centerville and West Bountiful areas reported the suspect in a stolen vehicle spotted several times Tuesday morning over a period of hours.
McCray was reportedly suicidal, Child told reporters. "The information over the radio was he wanted [to commit] suicide by cop," Child said.
The source of that information remained unclear Tuesday.
Because of July 4th celebrations in nearby cities, Child said, law enforcement's priority was keeping McCray away from the parade routes, lined by thousands of people, including many children.
"We were very concerned public safetywise," the chief told reporters.
Police put roadblocks on Parrish Lane but the driver entered the parkway, where the Utah Highway Patrol had deployed spikes. The man continued northbound driving on flat tires.
At one point the suspect vehicle crashed head-on into a Centerville police car, Child said, and then was rammed by another police vehicle and knocked into the median, where it came to a stop and ignited a grass fire.
Shots were fired, and the man was fatally wounded, Child said.
The chief said he had no information on whether McCray fired shots.
"I don't know anything about him," the chief told reporters. "I don't know his name. I know he is deceased."
Child said the officer involved in the shooting was a Utah Highway Patrol trooper.
The unnamed trooper is on administrative leave, as per protocol, pending the outcome of the investigation.