Friends, family identify suspect in deadly police shooting in Salt Lake City

Editor’s note: This story has been edited to reflect the suspect’s correct age and to clarify where the information originated.

SALT LAKE CITY — Officers fatally shot a man after a domestic violence incident was reported overnight in Salt Lake City, police say.

KSL TV has now learned the name of the man killed and how this wasn’t the first time that he put his own wife and children in danger.

Family and family friends told KSL the man police shot and killed was 60-year-old Christian Allen. They said he was trying to light his wife and kids on fire, just like he had gone to jail for 15 years ago.

Most people in the neighborhood near 1100 East and Hudson Avenue woke up to the scene of police swarming the street, and a man’s body inside the Allen family home.

“It’s really sad,” said Merle French, a neighbor.

“It’s a little bit strange, I wasn’t expecting to walk out of the house and see this,” said Marcus Brath, a neighbor.

Some didn’t realize they actually witnessed the deadly shooting last night.

“I could’ve swore I heard a gunshot, like I heard six in succession, a shot,” said Sydney Szabo, another neighbor.

According to police, the situation played out just after midnight.

“It was reported by the woman in the house to SLC 911 that there was the smell of gasoline,” Salt Lake City Police Department Det. Dalton Beebe said.

Family told KSL TV that Christy Allen had called 911 to report that her estranged husband, Christian Allen, whom she had recently filed a protective order against, had broken into their home.

Christy Allen and her two teenage sons hid inside a bedroom while they waited for police to arrive. Once they did, police won’t say what happened further, except that two officers shot and killed Christian Allen.

If Christian Allen was trying to light the house on fire, it would be the second time.

Back in 2010, KSL reported Christian Allen had lit his wife and their home on fire, destroying the house and burning her and two of their young children at the time.

“He went to jail for this stint for the first time that he tried to kill them,” French said.

Once released, she said the two somehow reconciled and had been living in the neighborhood for the past three or four years, but the problems didn’t go away.

“He was bipolar on medications, and get out of hand when he went off his meds,” French said.

Family and family friends tell KSL, Allen was also a veteran who suffered from PTSD, had drinking issues and was mixing recreational drugs and medications, who became violent enough for Christy Allen to seek a protective order in the last two or three months. Most neighbors were unaware of the backstory, simply seeing Tuesday’s tragic end.

“Obviously, it’s sad what has happened and I hope the woman and her family are okay,” said Malia Brumble, a neighbor.

Family members told KSL that Christy Allen is staying with family, but it’s unknown what will happen to the home, as it’s only in Christian Allen’s name.