Utah Cop Fatally Shot While Responding To Domestic Violence Call

A Utah police officer was shot in the line of duty, while one of his colleagues was injured Thursday (May 28), police said.

Police got a call from a woman shortly after noon, citing her husband had threatened to kill her. Officers responded to the house near Bonneville Park, Ogden, about 40 miles north of Salt Lake City, and engaged in a gunfight with the suspect who also had died, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.

On arrival, the police saw the man sitting on the front porch but he wouldn’t cooperate. He shut himself inside and opened fire on police through the door, fatally striking one of the officers.

Ogden Police Chief Randy Watt mourned the fallen officer in a press conference later that afternoon. “I’m going to give the family some time to grieve and come to grips with their loss,” he said at the conference. Watt declined to identify the officer, other than saying the young cop joined job only 15 months ago.

The officer was taken to McKay-Dee Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The second officer, placed under Adult Probation and Parole following the incident, is recovering from his injuries.

According to the Salt Lake Tribune, police removed children from the home unharmed and found the shooter lying dead inside. Residents in the area were asked not to leave their homes for at least 24 hours to avoid the crime scene.

Police officers from departments across Utah thronged the hospital to escort the officer’s body to the state medical examiner’s office, KSL-TV reported.

"There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. The worst days in this profession are those where we lose our brothers and sisters in the line of duty. Information is still being gathered. Take a moment to think about and honor the fallen officer, their family, their colleagues, and their communities," per a Facebook post from the Utah Fraternal Order of Police.

A similar police-involved shooting dating back to 2012 had at least six officers in Ogden sustain gunshot wounds and one fatally struck. Neighbors identified the suspect, Matthew David Stewart, as an Iraq war veteran who police thought was in possession of drugs. The shootout took place when police attempted to execute a drug-related search warrant at his home. The fallen police officer, Jared Francom, left behind a wife and two young children.