Farmington Police Chief says suspect in officer-involved shooting was armed

FARMINGTON, Utah — We’re learning this afternoon that a 25-year-old man shot and killed by police Wednesday afternoon in Farmington did have a gun.

In a statement, Farmington Police Chief Eric Johnsen says they did find a handgun lying on the driver’s side floorboard after Chase Allan was shot by police.

The chief’s statement also lays out an order of events from when Allan was pulled over. 

The statement continues on to say that Allan, after being pulled over in front of the Farmington Post office for having an “illegitimate license plate”. It also says body camera footage shows Allan only rolled down the window “a few inches and refused to provide any identification or cooperate with the officer in any way.”

“The driver asserted his independence from the laws of the land as well as his belief that he was not required to provide information to the officer, nor was he required to cooperate,” wrote Johnsen in the statement.

The officer who initially pulled Allan over reportedly called for backup, and a supervisor, two officers, and one trainee responded to the incident as well.

Johnsen’s statement continues on to say that when Allan “still refused to exit the vehicle, an officer opened the door of the car and another officer attempted to remove” Allan from the car. The statement says that a struggle ensued for a few seconds before another observing officer yelled “gun, gun, gun” and shots rang out.

Johnsen’s statement asserts that body camera footage, which has not yet been made public, shows an empty holster on Allan’s “right hip and a handgun can be seen lying on the driver side floorboard” of the car.

Body cameras on scene were only on for five minutes after the shooting. 

Related stories

• Mother of man killed by Farmington police has history with department

This is a developing story and will be updated.

 

 

Follow @kirahoffelmeyer