Two South Salt Lake police officers were justified when they fatally shot a man in September, Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill announced Friday, but body camera footage his office presented Friday didn’t clearly capture the shooting.
On the night of Sept. 26, 44-year-old Jebb Muir called 911 at about 11:10 p.m. to report that he had accidentally fired a gun and believed he may have shot into his neighbors’ home. During the call, Muir made threats against police — telling the operator that if a SWAT team was sent, he would kill them, according to a letter Gill wrote detailing prosecutors’ findings.
Officers had previously responded to Muir’s residence earlier that evening, when his wife at about 6:50 p.m. had requested police assistance as she gathered belongings from the home, because she reported Muir was “in psychosis” and angry, Gill’s letter states.
Muir wasn’t apparently home at the time, but three officers responded, waiting outside as his wife removed her belongings. At one point, Muir pulled up to the home on a bicycle, but the woman was able get her things “without incident,” and officers left at about 7:30 p.m., the letter states.
The police shooting
When Muir called police later that night to report the accidental gunshot, he requested the officers who had responded earlier, and stated he would be compliant.
When officers arrived in the area near 450 East Stephie Marie Lane in South Salt Lake, one of them called Muir and asked him to come outside, but Muir refused, Gill’s letter states.
While police monitored the home, a neighbor north of Muir’s house called 911 to report that a man was in his driveway with a rifle and had asked him “if he wanted to die.” Sgt. Clayton Anderson then saw a man matching that description riding a bicycle north onto 400 East, according to the letter.
As Anderson turned his patrol car onto Robert Avenue, he saw the same man now off his bike, on the side of the road with what appeared to be a rifle, he said in a written statement. He told officer Zayne Ruth to get in the front passenger seat of the patrol car, handed Ruth his loaded rifle and then the two drove to intercept the man.
As Anderson stopped the car near the man, later confirmed to be Muir, he appeared to be bent over. Anderson told Ruth to get out and go around the side of the vehicle. When Ruth did, Ruth yelled commands of “Hands, hands, hands!” as Anderson also got out of the car and unholstered his handgun, the letter states.
Body camera footage played at a Friday news conference showed an almost immediate barrage of gunfire, which documents state came from Muir and Ruth’s weapons. Anderson said in a statement that he “felt himself get struck in the side of the head with a projectile,” when Muir fired his weapon at Anderson.
Anderson dropped to the ground to avoid getting hit again. When he was able to see Muir’s “silhouette in prone position,” he fired one round.
Muir was later pronounced dead at the scene, and Anderson was grazed by a bullet on the side of his head. No one else was injured.
The body camera footage
Body camera footage was presented Friday from Ruth and two other responding officers, but none was shown from Anderson’s perspective.
“There’s other body worn cameras from other officers, but it wasn’t relevant to the shooting analysis that we have,” Gill said Friday. “This [footage shown] is as good as it gets... As they open their door, officer Ruth stands up. As soon as he stands up, the gun exchange starts, and they’re already taking fire.”
Gill said he could not say definitively who fired first, but said evidence shows an “almost simultaneous” gunfire exchange. His letter states that evidence recovered at the scene indicated that Muir fired three rounds from a shotgun, Ruth fired 12 rounds from a rifle and Anderson fired one shot from his handgun.
A knife, a bottle of vodka, a pistol, a scope and magazines, as well as boxes of ammo, were also recovered from Muir’s backpack, documents state. The Utah Medical Examiner’s office found Muir had a blood alcohol content of 0.129, over double the legal limit, according to Gill’s letter.
Gill’s office spoke with Muir’s family Friday morning, who told him that they had been unable to access mental health care for Muir when they noticed he was struggling, Gill said. They also told Gill they hope for law enforcement to get improved training for interactions with individuals who are suffering from mental health crises.
“It is a tragedy for all of us — I don’t like these kinds of scenarios, it’s not a win for anyone,” Gill said. “It would be a sad commentary if we don’t take the moment to recognize we are not funding our mental health services in our community who are in crisis, so families like theirs could have the access to the help and treatment that they need.”
Gill’s office will not be pursuing criminal charges against the officers, and he said the officers’ use of deadly force supported that they reasonably believed their lives were in danger. In a December statement, the South Salt Lake Civilian Review Board also ruled that the officers’ use of force was justified.