\nA Unified police officer was legally justified in shooting a man in September after the man picked up another officer s gun and pointed it at the officer, the district attorney concluded.
National Park Service Utah wildlife officials said Friday fish in Jones Hole Creek have tested positive for whirling disease. This story and more in Friday evening s news brief.
Friday evening, March 12, 2021
State
Rep. Chris Stewart Files Bill To End Daylight Saving Time
Twice a year, Utahns move their clocks ahead or back an hour depending on the season. It’s widely referred to as daylight saving time. Now, Rep. Chris Stewart, R-UT, is sponsoring a bill in Congress to end the biannual practice. Stewart called it outdated and unpopular. He says changing time “does nothing but confuse our schedules.” The legislation would give states the option to stay on daylight saving time permanently. For now, it’s still a thing. Don’t forget to move your clocks ahead by an hour Sunday at 2 a.m.
SALT LAKE CITY A West Valley police officer who shot and killed an armed parole fugitive while working with the U.S. Marshals apprehension team was justified in using deadly force, but a second officer was not legally justified when he also fired his weapon during the incident.
Those conclusions came from the Salt Lake County District Attorney s Office and were announced Friday.
District Attorney Sim Gill said Friday that his office cannot yet determine whether to file a criminal charge against that second West Valley police officer because he doesn t have enough information. We are ruling his shooting to be unjustified, Gill said during a press conference to announce his findings, adding that he has no context to explain why Sgt. Jason Vincent fired his weapon.
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Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill discusses the officer-involved shooting of Damien Evans during a press conference at the district attorney’s office building in Salt Lake City on Friday, March 12, 2021. A West Valley police officer who shot and killed Evans, an armed parole fugitive, while working with the U.S. Marshals apprehension team on Aug. 27, 2020, was justified in using deadly force, but a second officer was not legally justified when he also fired his weapon during the incident, Gill’s office has concluded.
Steve Griffin, Deseret News
SALT LAKE CITY A West Valley police officer who shot and killed an armed parole fugitive while working with the U.S. Marshals apprehension team was justified in using deadly force, but a second officer was not legally justified when he also fired his weapon during the incident.
Unified officer deemed justified in fatal shooting of armed man in Kearns Paighten Harkins
Salt Lake County prosecutors on Friday determined a Unified police officer was justified in fatally shooting a man who pulled a gun on the officer after an August traffic stop.
Investigators believe that Officer Leopoldo Lopez shot Andrew Shane Gwynn because the officer feared for his own life, one of the legal justifications in Utah for police using lethal force.
“Mr. Gwynn unlawfully presented an immediate threat of death or serious bodily injury by pointing his gun at Officer Lopez’s head and squeezing the handle in an apparent effort to fire the weapon,” District Attorney Sim Gill wrote in a letter explaining his office’s decision.