The driver Salt Lake City Police shot after a pursuit on Jan. 13 was recently pronounced dead, the department said in a news release Saturday, but officials have released few details about what happened and why officers opened fire.
The pursuit began around 2:30 a.m. near 1300 W. Arapahoe Ave., where officers saw two people in a car who had felony warrants. Police tried to stop the car, but the driver didn’t pull over and officers followed, according to a Salt Lake City Police Department statement.
Police used spike strips to try to stop the vehicle, but the pursuit continued until the driver later crashed near 500 N. Star Crest Drive. The passenger was then arrested without incident, police spokesperson Brent Weisberg said, while the driver, apparently armed with some kind of weapon, ran from the car toward a home.
Sometime after, three Salt Lake City officers fired at the driver. Officers don’t believe the driver had any connection to the home.
An ambulance later took the driver to a hospital in critical condition, and police announced Saturday that the driver had died, but did not disclose when. None of the officers were injured.
The department didn’t release the driver nor the passenger’s name, age or gender, and officials did not provide any additional details about what prompted officers to fire. The Utah Office of the Medical Examiner will conduct an autopsy to determine the official cause of death.
An outside agency, as well as the department’s internal affairs unit, will investigate the shooting.
This is the second police shooting in Utah this year, according to a Salt Lake Tribune database. The first happened Jan. 10 in Saratoga Springs, where officers shot and killed a 50-year-old man who led them on a vehicle pursuit before running away and allegedly attempting to break into a home with a gun.
Tribune reporter Jordan Miller contributed to this report.
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