This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
Saratoga Springs • A 22-year-old man — who earlier was seen wielding a samurai sword at a convenience store — was shot and killed by police in Saratoga Springs on Wednesday morning.
It was the second officer-involved shooting on the Wasatch Front in 24 hours, and comes just a month after 20-year-old Dillon Taylor was killed by police outside a outside a Salt Lake City convenience store.
On Tuesday afternoon, Ogden police fatally shot an armed suspect who was wanted in an earlier attempted homicide case.
The Saratoga Springs shooting occurred at 9:40 a.m. Wednesday near the Top Stop Convenience Store, located at 36 W. State Road 73.
Owen Jackson, public information officer for Saratoga Springs City, confirmed that the shooting occurred after officers responded to a report of a suspicious person in the area — a person who reportedly had a sword.
But Jackson declined to say if the man had the sword at the time of the shooting.
"There was a weapon involved," he said in response to questions from news media.
Two police officers were placed on leave following the shooting. But Jackson said he did not know if both officers had fired their weapons.
Jackson said the victim's next of kin had been notified of his death but that officials were not immediately releasing his name.
The Utah County Attorney's Office was investigating.
Meanwhile, at least two Ogden police officers were on leave Wednesday following the Tuesday afternoon shooting of Christopher James Roskelley, 38, of Roy.
Ogden police Lt. Danielle Croyle declined to provide a specific number of officers involved in the shooting episode.
Roskelley was a suspect in a Sept. 4 shooting at a Rite Aid parking lot near 800 24th Street in Ogden that left a 35-year-old man in critical condition.
Detectives had tracked a white car seen speeding from that earlier incident to Roskelley. Acting on information about addresses frequented by the suspect, gang detectives had set up a surveillance at 147 N. Harrison Blvd.
About 4:45 p.m. Tuesday, Roskelley drove a vehicle matching the earlier description into the home's driveway.
"Multiple officers" closed in on the vehicle and moments later "multiple gunshots" were fired, Croyle said. She confirmed that Roskelley "had a gun," but declined to say whether he had fired the weapon or threatened officers.
"That is all part of the investigation being conducted by the Weber County Attorney's Office," Croyle said, adding that investigators also were awaiting results of an autopsy on Roskelley being conducted by the State Medical Examiner's Office.
Roskelley was pronounced dead at the scene. No officers were injured, and a male passenger who was pulled from the suspect's vehicle, also was unhurt. The passenger was questioned and released.
In the Dillon Taylor case, Salt Lake County prosecutors said last week they expect to have a decision mid-month as to whether a Salt Lake City police officer was justified in shooting the man.
The officer who shot Taylor was wearing a body camera, Salt Lake City Police Chief Chris Burbank has confirmed. Burbank has said he will release the footage when the investigation is complete.
Taylor was exiting a 7-Eleven near 2100 S. State St. with his brother and cousin when officers arrived in response to a report of a man with a gun in the area, said South Salt Lake police, who are investigating the shooting.
Police have said Taylor ignored the officers' commands to stop.
But Taylor's brother, Jerrail Taylor, has said Taylor was wearing headphones and didn't immediately hear the officers, who were shouting conflicting commands and shot Dillon Taylor even though he was unarmed and posed no threat.
Taylor's shooting occurred two days after the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and has sparked nationwide controversy and led to multiple protests in Salt Lake City and Ogden.
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