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Civilian review board finds fatal police shooting of armed South Salt Lake man justified

Jebb Muir was shot and killed on Sept. 26 after a 911 caller said he was threatening them with a rifle.

(South Salt Lake Police Department) A man was killed and an officer was wounded in a shootout in South Salt Lake on Sept. 26.

  | Dec. 20, 2022, 10:46 p.m.

A civilian review board has decided that two police officers acted within Utah statute and South Salt Lake Police policies when they shot and killed an armed man in September, according to a Sunday statement.

The South Salt Lake Civilian Review Board said that after reviewing the evidence, including body-worn camera footage and 911 recordings, they found the two officers’ actions to be “reasonable.”

On Sept. 26, South Salt Lake officers were called to Jebb Muir’s home after reports that Muir was “suffering with psychosis, suicidal ideation, and had previously barricaded himself in a house and prepared firearms during an encounter with police.”

In responding to that call, officers didn’t observe any signs of mental illness or violence, the review board’s statement said.

At 11:10 p.m. on Sept. 26, police received another 911 call, this time from Muir, who threatened officers and said that he had access to firearms. As the department got in place to respond to the call, an officer from earlier in the day called Muir to try and resolve the situation, but Muir hung up after a brief discussion.

Shortly before midnight, South Salt Lake Police got yet another 911 call, this time from a caller saying Muir was threatening him with a rifle in the area of 400 E. and Robert Avenue (2440 South).

When two officers arrived and approached Muir, he reached for a shotgun and fired at them. The police returned fire, shooting and killing Muir.

He was pronounced dead at the scene. An officer who was struck in the head with buckshot was treated at a hospital and released. The second officer was not injured.

The South Salt Lake Civilian Review Board unanimously agreed that the two officers’ use of force was justified, “given the immediacy of danger to the public, the significant risk factors including known firearm possession, multiple threats against civilians and officers, and self-defense against lethal force,” its statement said.

South Salt Lake Police Chief Jack Carruth has recommended that the two officers return to the department from administrative leave.

This shooting marked the 14th police shooting in Utah so far this year, according to a database maintained by The Salt Lake Tribune.