facebook-pixel

Police interview and release all witnesses in the car when Granite officer shot juvenile

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Investigators comb the scene where a Granite School District police officer shot a driver on Tuesday afternoon, March 20, 2018. While on patrol near Hunter High School, the officer noticed a car full of teenagers and smelled marijuana. When he approached the car lurched and he ended up on the hood. The driver was shot and four other teens in the car fled the scene.

All four witnesses sitting in a car that a Granite police officer shot through the windshield, striking the teen driver, have been interviewed and released.

The last one to be interviewed was an adult male, Granite police and school district spokesman Ben Horsley said. The other three were juveniles.

The shooting occurred Tuesday near a park in West Valley City. The officer, who has been in law enforcement for a year and has not been identified, was patrolling near Hunter High School when he smelled marijuana, police have said.

The officer approached a car with five people in it. The car “lurched” forward and the officer was thrown on the hood. The officer then shot the driver through the windshield.

The driver was taken to a hospital very critical condition. Horsley did not have an updated condition for the boy Thursday night.

The witnesses in the car, four males described as Latinos between the ages of 16 and 18, fled following the shooting. The car traveled about another 100 feet and crashed.

Police contacted and interviewed the three juvenile boys Wednesday, but the adult remained “outstanding” until his interview with police Thursday.

Salt Lake City police is the lead investigator on the case and is being assisted by Unified and West Valley City police.