Salt Lake officer not legally justified in shooting man’s hand, but won’t face charges

SALT LAKE CITY — A Salt Lake police officer was not legally justified when he shot an unarmed man’s hand as the man was hiding in a thick patch of tall grass in June.

Yet despite that conclusion, officer Mitchell Bailey will not face any criminal charges, Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill announced Friday.

“We cannot justify this use of force because there’s nothing that actually put (the officer) in danger,” Gill said during a press conference Friday to announce his decision. “He cannot articulate his life was in danger. He cannot articulate the suspect had a weapon. He cannot articulate that the other (officers’) lives were in danger.”

However, as stated in the district attorney’s final report regarding the police shooting, “we do not believe the evidence is sufficient to show, beyond a responsible doubt, that officer Bailey acted recklessly — a necessary element to satisfy for a conviction.”

On June 29, 2024, Salt Lake police officers were helping Utah Highway Patrol troopers locate two men in the area of 5650 West and 700 South, just off the main road. Troopers had attempted to stop a speeding pickup truck that had been reported as stolen just after midnight. By the time troopers caught up with the vehicle, they found it abandoned in the middle of the road.

In body camera videos released by Salt Lake police in July, officers are seen searching for the men in thick patches of tall grass that, in some areas, were taller than the officers. At about 12:40 a.m., an officer is heard yelling to one of the wanted men to show his hands.

Just as this happened, one video shows Bailey draw his weapon, which immediately fires, although it does not appear in the video that the officer could see the man. The officer immediately makes an exclamation indicating he was surprised by the shot.

Bobby Joe Caster, 51, can be heard saying, several times, “You shot me” and, “You blew my hand off.”

“We were unaware of any evidence which would have indicated that Mr. Caster was armed, or appeared to be armed, with any weapon or object during the incident. Moreover, based on the body-worn camera recordings and the officers’ statements to investigators, we believe it reasonable to conclude that when the shot was fired, officer Bailey could not see into the thick grass where Mr. Caster was lying on the ground hiding,” the report states.

Bailey declined to be interviewed as part of the investigation, Gill noted. But in reviewing body camera videos — which Gill called an important part of the investigation — he says Bailey seemed “genuinely surprised” when his gun went off.

“In this scenario, what I really believe happened is that we have an officer pulling his gun out, he has his (flashlight) in his left hand, he’s trying to bring his (right) hand up, and he has clearly at some point put his finger in the finger guard. And as that arm is being raised, he fired that weapon,” Gil said.

Once it was determined that the shooting was not justified, Gill said his office looked at two possible charges: illegal discharge of a firearm, a felony offense; and reckless endangerment, a misdemeanor. Gill says citizens who illegally shoot their guns, whether the shots are fired in the air, into the ground or toward another person, can be charged with a felony. But Utah law has a “very specific exemption” for police officers who cannot be charged with that crime.

As for the misdemeanor, Gill said his office would have to prove that Bailey acted with “conscious disregard” of the danger he was creating by his actions. For example, if the officer had been walking around the tall grass with his gun drawn and finger on the trigger the entire time, prosecutors may have been able to file the charge. In this case, Gill said the shot was fired immediately after Bailey unholstered his gun and was raising it in a ready position next to his flashlight.