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Two police officers in Utah were killed and a third was wounded when a suspect opened fire as the officers responded to a domestic disturbance call on Sunday night, authorities said.
Two Tremonton Garland Police officers and a deputy from the Box Elder County Sheriff’s Office responded around 9:30 p.m. to multiple 911 hang-up calls at a residence near North Park Elementary School, the Brigham City Police Department said in a news release on Monday morning.
As one Tremonton Garland police officer was speaking to an individual at the residence who was reporting an apparent domestic disturbance, an armed male appeared from inside the home and opened fire, striking and killing the officer. As a second Tremonton Garland officer rushed to help the first officer, the suspect shot and killed the second officer.
The Box Elder County deputy and his police service dog were shot inside the deputy’s vehicle as it arrived at the scene, authorities said. The deputy remained in the vehicle and was later rushed to a hospital, while the service dog was taken to a veterinary clinic. Both were recovering in fair condition.
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Bystanders had convinced the suspect to put down his firearm, authorities said. Additional responding officers then took the suspect into custody.
The male suspect, who has not been named publicly, was being charged with aggravated murder, police said.
Police have not released the identities of the two officers and deputy.
“Tragedies like these rock an entire community, state and even nation,” the Brigham City Police Department said. “These officers and their families served their every day, and they will forever be remembered as heroes.”
Brigham City Detective Crystal Beck told reporters during a briefing overnight that the officers involved in the shooting called for backup, but at some point, stopped responding to their radios.
The shooting prompted a massive police and SWAT response from neighboring agencies in Box Elder, Weber and Cache Counties. Beck said the suspect was not believed to be barricaded at the time of the shooting.
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Authorities said there is no current threat to the community, though they asked the public to avoid the area on Monday morning.
Randy Kilman, a resident who said he was driving home at the time of the shooting, told FOX13 Salt Lake City that he saw two police cars and believed someone was “lighting off fireworks” when a bullet struck his car.
“I went to go back out, and when I went to back out, I caught a bullet through the driver’s side door and it went out my windshield,” he said. “So I dove-tailed and ran and ran home and called my wife and told her to come outside, make sure I didn’t have no holes in me. It’s pretty freaky.”
