Bystander injured during West Jordon police chase turned shooting
Jul 6, 2024, 12:34 PM | Updated: 12:34 pm
A West Jordan Police car. (Steve Griffin, Deseret News)
(Steve Griffin, Deseret News)
WEST JORDAN — A domestic violence call turned into a police chase, with the suspect shooting at officers Friday evening. One bystander said they got injured in the line of fire.
Sgt. Andrew Hercules with the West Jordan Police Department said the initial call started around 8700 S. 1300 West. When officers arrived, the suspect began to shoot at officers and fled from the scene in a car.
Hercules said officers pursued the man until they reached 9500 South, where police ended the pursuit. Shortly afterward, police began to pursue him again near 1300 W. 9700 South.
Officers reported that the man began shooting at them again while in the car, and Hercules said the officers returned fire at the suspect.
Diane Taylor was walking her dogs along 1300 West when she said she heard sirens heading towards her.
“I’m walking north on 13th, and I’m on the west side of the street. And they are coming at me. They got probably 50 yards away from me,” Taylor said.
Taylor said she started to turn down a side street to get away from the chase.
“As I’m turning, it all happened so fast and they were coming very quickly. I heard gunshots, probably four or five. I couldn’t tell if it was the guy getting pursued, if he was shooting back, if they were shooting forward. I couldn’t tell,” Taylor said.
“And then I got hit.”
Taylor said it felt like she was hit with a paintball.
“I thought maybe a rubber bullet, I don’t know, that’s what it felt like. I checked, ‘Am I really bleeding, is it serious?’ I felt okay,” Taylor said.
She told KSL that she decided to go home, and talked to police approximately 10 minutes after.
She said that when police realized she had been injured, an officer evaluated her. She said that the officer advised the wound was most likely caused by shrapnel that had ricocheted.
Diane Taylor’s shoulder wound that police advised could have been caused by shrapnel. (Lori Denning)
“Thankfully it hit maybe the ground first then bounced up and hit me in the shoulder. But that’s as much as I know,” Taylor said. “He was very caring, he called an ambulance then they took my vitals and made sure I was okay. I felt okay, but I appreciated the care. They took it seriously.”
Taylor said she was concerned that an active shooting occurred on a busy, public road.
“Honestly, once I realized it was live fire then it gets more scary because what in the world? They’re flying and shooting, and bullets can stray, clearly. It hit me in the shoulder, I got a pretty big welt. I’m gonna be a little bit sore, but ya it’s super concerning.”
Hercules said that, at some point, the man was placed into custody and transported to the hospital in unknown condition.
Police closed off 1300 West to 9000 South to 900 South while they investigated this shooting.
This is a breaking news story. It may be updated in the future.
Read the full article at KSLTV.com
