Man dies after police shooting that shut down southbound I-15 in Draper
Mar 10, 2026, 5:17 PM | Updated: Mar 13, 2026, 4:38 pm
DRAPER — A man is dead after a police shooting on the southbound lanes of Interstate 15 in Draper on Tuesday, according to police.
In a statement, the Department of Public Safety confirmed the incident began as a traffic stop at approximately 4:30 p.m. A police officer with the Riverton Police Department pulled over a vehicle heading southbound on I-15 near the Bangerter Highway interchange.
A police affidavit said the traffic stop occurred after detectives conducted surveillance on a residence involved with an active narcotics investigation.
“Detectives observed (Shawn Michael Shalosky) and another unknown male leave the residence in a Cadillac sedan,” the police record said.
Riverton City later identified 36-year-old Branden Scott Markham as the unknown man.
Passenger shot
According to the affidavit, officers pulled the vehicle over and saw Shalosky in the driver’s seat and Markham, who allegedly had a handgun.
“The male (Markham) was ordered out of the vehicle and requested to hand over his handgun for officer safety purposes,” the police report said. “The male refused to relinquish the handgun and began fighting patrol officers outside of the vehicle, Mr. Shalosky remained complaint with officers during the altercation.”
As the traffic stop took place, Markham “engaged in an altercation with the officer, resulting in the officer discharging their service firearm,” according to the DPS statement. On Tuesday, the department said the Markham was struck by the officer’s gunfire and was in critical condition. He was taken to a hospital by helicopter.
Riverton police said Markham died at the hospital. His identity was not released.
Driver arrested
After the altercation and gunfire, the driver was taken into custody by an officer with the Herriman Police Department without further incident. According to the police affidavit, Shalosky was searched prior and officers found “a small yellow bag” that had “white powder-like substance” inside, which tested positive for cocaine after a field test was done.
Riverton police said one of its officers was placed on administrative leave, per protocol.
The southbound lanes of I-15 at Bangerter Highway were shut down for a portion of Tuesday afternoon during the evening commute, which caused delays for hours into the evening.
Contributing: Garna Mejia, Kennedy Camarena and Mary Culbertson, KSL
Other reading: Utah expected to soon have a new alert system for missing people with special needs
This story is breaking and may be updated.
