Man arrested after reportedly opening fire and barricading himself in West Jordan home

WEST JORDAN, Utah — A tense and dangerous situation comes to an end in West Jordan Friday afternoon. 

A man was taken to the Salt Lake County Jail after he fired many shots into a neighborhood, sparking a SWAT standoff that lasted hours. 

Jared Hansen lives next door to the home on Decora Way where the suspect opened fire.  He was at work, but he said his wife heard “countless gunshots” coming from his neighbor’s home after 9 a.m.  For hours, he wasn’t able to go to his own house to check on his wife’s safety.

Hansen said, “They told her to just get in the basement and stay away from windows.”

Police agencies from all over Salt Lake County assisted West Jordan Police after the suspect barricaded himself into a home.  Oddly, investigators say the suspect doesn’t actually live there and the residents had never seen him before.  Lieutenant Richard Bell said they can’t find any connection between the suspect and that home and they believe he may have just been there at random. 

“When it was going on, this was a very active situation.  We had our patrol officers on the scene containing the house and rounds were still actively being fired out of the house,” Bell said.  “Just using the sound of the gunfire, they were able to hone in on which home the gunfire was coming from.”

SWAT officers used an armored UHP vehicle to protect themselves every time they approached the home.  They spent hours trying to speak with him through megaphones.  Eventually, the suspect surrendered and was taken into custody.

Bell said they’re happy no one was injured.

“There were several homes that have been struck and several vehicles that have been struck.  Fortunately, as far as we know at this point, no individuals have been struck,” he said.

There were actually two different crime scenes blocked off by police.  Roughly a block away on Decora Way, police found a splatter of blood next to a backpack that had its contents removed and thrown on the ground.  Bell said officers believe those things were connected to the standoff, but they haven’t released any details on how.

Investigators say they’re uncertain if the suspect was under the influence of controlled substances or if he was suffering from mental health problems, but they say he clearly wasn’t acting rationally.  Bell said the suspect has been processed and booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on a “laundry list” of charges, including attempted homicide, aggravated assault and burglary.