Officers who shot a woman on June 4 at Utah Lake State Park believe she called police on herself to provoke them to shoot her, according to recently released documents. The woman survived.
Initially, Provo police reported that officers responded to a call reporting that someone had a gun and was acting erratically at the park. When they arrived, police said, a woman didn’t listen to their commands to put down her gun and pointed it at them.
Officers then fired at her, striking her four times.
A recently unsealed request for a search warrant says the 911 call came from that same woman’s phone. The caller also described her own vehicle to the dispatcher when giving additional information about the “female with a gun acting erratic.”
The search warrant request sought permission to draw the woman’s blood for testing. It said officers suspected she was experiencing suicidal thoughts or was under the influence of a controlled substance, prescription drugs or alcohol.
Editor’s note: Anyone experiencing suicidal thoughts is asked to call the 24-Hour National Suicide Prevention Hotline, 1-800-273-TALK (8255). Utah also has crisis lines statewide.