Suspect in Tremonton police killings had prior assault cases

SALT LAKE CITY — The Tremonton man accused of fatally shooting two officers and wounding a sheriff’s deputy Sunday was assaulting a woman last night when police arrived to help, arrest records state.

A probable cause statement said the investigation revealed Ryan Michael Bate, 32, slammed the woman’s head into a door frame.

Court records and audio recordings from inside the courtroom show this was not the first time, revealing a pattern of reported domestic violence. A woman sought a protective order against him in 2019. In 2021, Bate was charged with a misdemeanor domestic violence assault that was ultimately dismissed as part of a plea bargain.

Then, last year, he was arrested on several felony charges: aggravated assault and three counts of domestic violence in the presence of a child. A woman told police he grabbed her by the throat, and it was not the first time Bate had done that. She also said he tossed her on the couch and broke a chair. Officers observed red marks on her neck, court records state.

In that case, officers administered a lethality assessment, which is a survey used to determine how much danger domestic violence victims are in.

Court audio obtained by the KSL Investigators on Monday revealed the result of that assessment, as described by a prosecutor in a hearing in May 2024.

“In the risk assessment, the lethality assessment, she does say that he’s choked her before, and it comes in as high risk, and the need to contact social service provider immediately,” said Brian Duncan with the Box Elder County Attorney’s Office. “So there is some significant risk there.”

That case was ultimately dismissed when the woman chose not to testify against Bate. In response to questions from KSL, Bate’s defense attorney in that case, Randall Richards, noted that the charges were dropped. Richards said Monday he was saddened to hear of Bate’s alleged involvement in the officers’ deaths.

Kimmi Wolf with the Utah Domestic Violence Coalition said survivors of this type of abuse should be met with empathy, not blame.

“We always put the burden of, you know, ending violence, saving the children, on the survivor. And so it is time that we put the blame and fault on the people using violence,” Wolf said. “Instead of asking the survivor why he or she stays, let’s ask the offender why do they abuse?”

She said Sunday’s violence is a horrible reminder of how no community is immune from domestic violence.

“Law enforcement, when they are answering a domestic violence call, they truly have no idea what they’re going to be walking into,” Wolf said.

According to the FBI’s national Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted database, 31 officers were “feloniously killed” as of July, meaning they were fatally injured “as a direct result of a willful and intentional act by an offender.”

The Midwest recorded the most of those deaths, at 10; the West followed with six.

The FBI also said ‘disturbance calls’ result in more assaults on police than other types of calls like robberies and traffic stops. Those attacks are most likely to happen between midnight and 2 a.m. than any other time of day, followed by the period from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Prosecutors have not filed formal charges against Bate yet, but he was booked into the Box Elder County Jail with police recommending several felony charges, including two counts of aggravated murder. That charge is a capital offense, meaning it carries with it the possibility of a death sentence.

Wolf, with Utah Domestic Violence Coalition, said the tragedy is a reminder of how everyone has work to do when it comes to recognizing and addressing domestic violence – and supporting victims and survivors.

“Every scenario of domestic violence that we hear about, that’s someone’s loved one and we have to start paying attention,” Wolf said.

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If you or someone you know is going through abuse, help is available.

• The Utah Domestic Violence Coalition operates a confidential statewide, 24-hour domestic abuse hotline at 1-800-897-LINK (5465).
• Resources are also available online at the Utah Domestic Violence Coalition website.
• YWCA Women in Jeopardy program: 801-537-8600
• Utah’s statewide child abuse and neglect hotline: 1-855-323-DCFS (3237)
• National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233