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Provo man charged with shooting police officer

Officer had bullet lodged near his spine. He’s expected to recover.

(Photo courtesy of the Utah County jail) Justin Keith Taylor has been charged in the shooting of a Provo police officer.

A Provo man has been charged with multiple felonies after he reportedly shot and wounded a police officer.

Keith Justin Taylor, 44, was charged in 4th District Court with three counts of attempted homicide, first-degree felonies; and felony discharge of a firearm, a third-degree felony.

On Thursday, officers responded to a report of gunshots at an apartment complex at 80 S. 900 East. They found the front door of the building had been shot out, and witnesses directed them to Taylor’s apartment.

According to police, when they contacted Taylor he admitted shooting the door because, he said, he was being harassed. He refused to come out and told officers he worked for the Drug Enforcement Administration and the National Security Agency.

One of the officers offered Taylor his phone so he could call his supervisor and confirm his DEA/NSA story. When Taylor reached for the phone, officers tried to grab him but he broke free.

(Photo courtesy of Provo Police Department) Officer John Oseguera was shot and injured Thursday while responding to reports of an erratic man, Provo Police say. Oseguera was shot at least twice but is in stable condition.

According to charging documents, three of the four officers followed Taylor as he ran into a bedroom. Taylor grabbed an assault rifle off of his bed, turned and aimed in the direction of the officers, who drew their guns. Taylor “began shooting rounds from the semi-automatic rifle as fast as he could fire the weapon,” police wrote, and the officer closest to him — John Oseguera — was hit in the abdomen and fell into the adjacent bathroom. The other officers returned fire.

As Taylor was reloading, he yelled, “You’re going to die, [expletive]” and “This is your last will and testament.” He then shot Oseguera, who was lying on the bathroom floor, twice in the legs with a 9mm handgun.

Oseguera “fired an entire magazine through the wall” at Taylor, according to police, allowing the other officers to advance and give him cover so he could leave the apartment. The other officers then fired a “barrage of gunfire” at Taylor, who surrendered and was arrested.

Oseguera was taken to a hospital for emergency surgery to remove a bullet near his spine and repair a broken leg. He is expected to recover.

Taylor was booked into the Utah County jail, where he is being held without bail.