Police arrest suspected gunman in University of Utah student’s death

SALT LAKE CITY – The manhunt for a suspect in the deadly shooting near the mouth of Red Butte Canyon has come to an end.  Austin Boutain was taken into custody after being seen in the downtown Salt Lake City Library.

It wasn’t the helicopters with infrared tracking, or the hundreds of officers climbing the foothills around the University of Utah that found Austin Boutain.  The credit for finding him goes to an alert librarian in the downtown Salt Lake City Library.  University of Utah Police Chief Dale Brophy says, “The librarian had noticed somebody that matched the description of Mr. Boutain, called library security and confronted Mr. Boutain who was peacefully taken into custody,” adding, “Once taken into custody, [security] contacted the Salt Lake City Police Department who responded and took custody of Mr. Boutain.”

(Photo Credit: Ravell Call)

Brophy says once Boutain saw the armed security guards, he immediately surrendered.  Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brown congratulated the librarian, saying, “Good work, today.”  Brown says, “The librarian was able to pay attention to what was being put out and recognized [Boutain] and then called security.”

Brown says an alert population is the best partner the police can ever have.  “They are our ears and our eyes.  So many times, we can leverage them for the great work we do,” he adds.

However, investigators are still trying to find the forest green pickup truck that Boutain and his wife reportedly stole from a victim in Golden, Colorado, and they hope the public can help them spot it.