This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
Police responding to a report of a suspicious vehicle and persons in southwest Salt Lake County's Jordan Landing shopping complex ended up shooting a wanted fugitive early Thursday morning.
Public safety dispatchers received a 911 call at 11:43 p.m. Wednesday reporting the vehicle near the development's Old Navy store. At 12:33 a.m. Thursday, a West Jordan police officer spotted two men near the Office Max store at 7037 Plaza Drive (3110 West) and approached them.
Details remained sketchy as investigation into the incident had just begun, but a confrontation of some kind developed a few minutes later and an "officer-involved shooting" was reported near the Office Max store at 7037 Plaza Drive (3110 West), dispatchers noted.
West Jordan police Sgt. Dan Roberts said the officer was uninjured, but Timothy James Peterson, 31, was shot at least once. Initially in critical condition at Intermountain Medical Center, he was upgraded late Thursday morning to fair and was expected to survive.
Roberts confirmed that the officer had initially approached the two men he found outside the Office Max and recognized Peterson as someone "wanted on warrants [who] had [allegedly] made threats to police in the past."
Peterson ran, was pursued on foot and more than one shot was fired by the officer. The nature of Peterson's injuries was not immediately released.
Robertson also said that officers found weapons at the scene, but he was not at liberty to specifically identify them.
The second man found outside the store was not reported to have been arrested.
Roberts confirmed that, per policy, the officer involved in the shooting had been placed on paid administrative leave pending a review.
Peterson, listed in recent court records as a resident of Bluffdale, had a warrants out for his arrest in two misdemeanor cases in the West Jordan Justice Court.
In one case, he had pleaded innocent to use or possession of drug paraphernalia and disorderly conduct. In another, he had pleaded innocent to charges of DUI and use or possession of drug paraphernalia.
According to Utah court records, Peterson entered into a plea in abeyance last October on a charge of violating a protective order. Court records show his estranged wife, who filed for divorce last April, filed a protective order against the man in early 2014.
— Reporter Jessica Miller contributed to this story.
Twitter: @remims