This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A North Logan man remained in critical condition Monday, three days after he was shot multiple times during a hospital confrontation with law enforcement officers.
Both North Park police and University Hospital in Salt Lake City, confirmed they had not received any reports of 34-year-old Jason James Burr's condition having changed since the Friday incident.
North Park Police Chief Kim Hawkes, whose agency serves North Logan and neighboring Hyde Park, said the 8:10 a.m. Friday shooting occurred when Burr, reportedly on pain pills for a back problem and upset over the results of an earlier visit, entered Cache Valley Hospital and made unspecified demands of emergency room staff — while wielding two handguns.
Hospital security rushed into ER, ordering the area locked down as they did. Their attempts to talk down Burr failed, and he then confronted one of two Adult Probation and Parole agents who were in the hospital foyer.
The suspect allegedly pointed his weapons toward the agent and four shots were fired; Burr was struck three times.
The Utah Department of Corrections said that the AP&P officers happened to be at the hospital because a parolee was there receiving treatment. Both men have been put in administrative pending a shooting review.
Burr was sent to the emergency room at Cache Valley Hospital in North Logan after being told he needed immediate surgery, according to Gar Workman, the grandfather of Burr's wife, Cassy Burr.
After Jason Burr was turned away for help, he returned to the emergency room with two handguns on Friday morning, Workman said.
"Jason had some serious back problems," he told The Herald Journal of Logan.
Workman said Burr was on strong pain medication at the time, and he thinks Burr was not in his right mind.
"I guess the pain was really intensive, so he took all the pills that he had," he said.
Utah court records show that Burr was charged in 2010 with three counts of second-degree felony drug possession and three counts of third-degree felony falsely obtaining a prescription. He pleaded guilty in 1st District Court to two third-degree felony counts of falsely obtaining a prescription and the other counts were dismissed.
He was sentenced to 30 days in jail and three years' probation. He also was ordered to complete drug and alcohol counseling and pay an $800 fine.
Burr's probation was terminated in October 2011.
Last year, responding to a motion filed by Burr, a judge reduced his convictions from third-degree felonies to class B misdemeanors, according to court records.
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