Police have issued an alert for an “armed and dangerous person of interest” after a woman was shot half a dozen times in the back and killed in her Weber County home. The shooter is believed to be her husband.
Police are searching for Scott William Russell, who is believed to have driven from the area in a black 2017 Toyota Land Cruiser with black rims and Utah license plates G143AP. Russell is believed to be headed to Colorado.
(Photo courtesy of the Weber County Sheriff's Office) Police are searching for Scott William Russell, who is believed to be driving this black, 2017 Toyota Land Cruiser with black rims and Utah license plates G143AP.
He has been charged in 2nd District Court with murder, a first-degree felony; five counts of felony discharge of a weapon, second-degree felonies; possession of a firearm by a restricted person, a third-degree felony; and possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia, class-B misdemeanors.
Weber County Sheriff’s deputies arrived at the home just outside Huntsville shortly after 9 p.m. Tuesday after a report that Russell had shot his wife — a report phoned in by someone who had gotten a phone call about the shooting from the Russells' adult son, who lives out of state. When officers arrived, they found the victim’s body on the floor of the master bedroom.
Police called the Russells' son, who told them that Scott Russell was “acting very erratic” and “kept repeating statements” when he called the son, according to court documents. The son told police his father told him repeatedly that he was going to come and “give him a hug,” and that his “soul was on the line.”
When the son asked his father about the victim, Scott Russell called out to her. The son asked her if Scott Russell was high, and the victim said he was.
The son told police he heard what he believed was the sound of Scott Russell loading and cocking a gun, followed by a door slamming and his father continuing to repeat incoherent statements. Scott Russell said he was going to visit his son because he (Scott) would be going to prison. He then told his son he had shot his wife, and alternated between denying and confirming that before ending the phone call by saying, “I’ll see you in hell!”
According to police, the victim was shot five times in the back, including once at the base of her skull, and there were bullet holes in the bedroom wall. A handgun was located “embedded into the drywall” of another bedroom in the home, and several other guns, marijuana and drug paraphernalia were also found in the home.
Security footage from nearby homes showed Scott Russell driving away from his home. Anyone with any information about Russell’s location is asked to call the Weber County Sheriff’s Office at 801-778-6631, or call local law enforcement agencies.
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