Family of Sandy man shot by police question the events before his death

SANDY — A man was shot and killed by police at a Sandy senior community Friday. He was identified by his family as 45-year-old Ian Anzer, who U.S. Marshals said was a wanted fugitive.

Anzer’s family is waiting for answers from law enforcement and has requested to see the officer’s body cam footage. They have also questioned the response time by emergency medical personnel following the shooting.

Criminal history

Anzer had been staying at this elderly mother’s apartment at Silver Pines Senior Community when officers arrived in search of him. Anzer was banned from the property, according to his brother, Anthony Anzer.

Police had obtained two warrants for his arrest on Nov. 21. The first was for an incident in June at the same senior community.

Police responded to a call on Jun. 8 reporting a “suspicious person” described as “walking around the parking lot yelling and swinging something around,” according to court documents. Police found Ian Anzer sitting in a red Cadillac that did not belong to him, and later discovered a rifle behind the passenger seat, court documents state.

The second arrest warrant was connected to a separate incident on Aug. 4. Court documents said that Ian Anzer was charged with failing to stop at the command of law enforcement, a class A misdemeanor.

Anzer pled guilty on Oct. 2 to possession of a firearm by a restricted person, a third-degree felony, for the events that took place in the first incident in June.

On Nov. 13, Anzer pleaded guilty to the Aug. 4 charge and was placed on probation for three years. He was given credit for 86 days served in the Salt Lake County jail and ordered to complete 50 hours of community service.

The shooting

After obtaining the warrants, police searched Silver Pines property on Friday, where Anzer was shot and killed by the U.S. Marshals Violent Fugitive Apprehension Team.

Sgt. Greg Moffit with the Sandy Police Department told KSL-TV that the events that transpired before the shooting are still being investigated.

“Some sequence of events took place, I don’t know what they were, but it did result in an officer-involved shooting which did leave one male adult deceased,” he said.

According to Anthony Anzer, Ian Anzer’s brother, their mother was in the apartment with Ian Anzer at the time officers came to the door.

“They started banging on the door and he said you can’t enter without a warrant. And they said that they were going to break the door down because it was a hostage situation but I don’t understand that,” Anthony Anzer said.

He said his mother did not feel threatened before officers arrived.

At some point, officers were able to breach the door and encountered Ian Anzer.

“And they just shot him. Three shots is what I heard,” Anthony Anzer said. “They went center of mass and just shot him dead. He allegedly was going for a kitchen knife.”

Anthony Anzer said his mother, who is disabled, walked out of a bedroom as the incident unfolded and witnessed her son being shot.

“This is going to be a big issue for our family, she has witnessed something horrific,” he said. “We’re just going to have to pull together and make sure that she’s going to be okay.”

Anthony Anzer said they are hoping to examine the officers’ body camera footage to verify whether or not Ian Anzer was going for a knife.

“He wasn’t a violent person … he wasn’t. He had a big mouth, I will give you that, and he had a strong resistance to authority. But he wasn’t a violent person,” Anthony Anzer said. “In the end, he was a good person, he really was. He always was there for people, he always wanted to be loved. He just got in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

The U.S. Marshals Service has not yet responded to questions about the moments before the shooting and the response time of emergency medical help.

Related: One dead after officer-involved shooting at Sandy senior living facility