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Man shot and killed by police in central Utah identified

(Courtesy photo) Mark Stoddard was shot and killed Dec. 21, 2019, by an Emery County Sheriff's deputy and a Utah Highway Patrol trooper. UHP has said Stoddard pointed a weapon at the deputy.

  | Dec. 30, 2019, 7:19 p.m.
| Updated: Dec. 31, 2019, 1:14 a.m.

The man accused of pointing a gun at a sheriff’s deputy and who was shot and killed after a chase in Emery County was identified Monday as Mark Wilfred Stoddard.

Stoddard was identified in a news release by the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office, which is investigating the Dec. 21 pursuit and shooting. The news release said Stoddard was 41; public records show he was 40.

Stoddard’s mother, Patsy Stoddard, said her son recently had developed an alcohol problem and his family had tried to get him to quit drinking.

“Little bugger had his own free agency,” Patsy Stoddard said. “People make their own choices. He just got caught in a bad situation and made a poor choice, and it didn’t end well for him.”

An Emery County sheriff’s deputy encountered Stoddard about 5:15 p.m. Dec. 21 a few blocks from his home in Huntington. The deputy pulled him over on suspicion of drunken driving.

During the traffic stop, Stoddard exited his car and pointed a gun at the deputy, according to a Utah Highway Patrol news release issued shortly after the shooting, and which didn’t refer to Stoddard by name.

Stoddard then got back into his car and drove away. He drove northwest up Huntington Canyon, also known as State Road 31. A trooper joined the chase and stopped Stoddard’s car by deploying spike strips.

Once the driver stopped — with police parked behind him — he got out of the car and again pointed his gun at police, according to the UHP release.

Both a deputy and a trooper fired at Stoddard, who was hit and died shortly after.

Court records show Stoddard was charged with driving under the influence in 2003. He pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of reckless driving, a misdemeanor.

(Courtesy photo) Mark Stoddard was shot and killed Dec. 21, 2019, by an Emery County Sheriff's deputy and a Utah Highway Patrol trooper. UHP has said Stoddard pointed a weapon at the deputy.

Mark Stoddard’s obituary recalled the contributions he made, including working in agriculture and landscaping and helping neighbors fix roofs and shovel snow. Patsy Stoddard said one neighborhood boy, about age 7, asked the grown Mark Stoddard if he could come out and play.

“He was just like a neighborhood friend to all the kids,” Patsy Stoddard said.