SALT LAKE CITY -- The family of a man shot and killed by police in Saratoga Springs said a new autopsy report proves the officers involved acted unjustly.
The State Medical Examiner’s office found Darrien Hunt, 22, was shot six times by police, with some of the shots hitting Hunt from behind.
“People are trying to justify killing my son. 'He had to have been drunk. He had to have been on drugs,' so that means the cops can kill him? But he wasn't,” said Hunt’s mother, Susan Hunt.
The family met with the press Tuesday to discuss the findings. Hunt’s mother became emotional as she reviewed the details, especially the
state’s toxicology tests, which found Hunt was not under the influence of any substances at the time.
“How can you justify the cops?” she asked.
Hunt was shot on Sept. 10 outside a Top Stop convenience store in Saratoga Springs. Police were called to the shopping plaza after someone saw Hunt walking around with a “samurai-type” sword. When they arrived, the two officers who responded claimed Hunt lunged at them with the sword, which prompted the gunfire.
“They chased him and had an old fashioned shootout, shootout at the O.K. Corral, so to speak, on an innocent boy, who had probably done nothing,” said family attorney Robert Sykes.
The Utah County Attorney’s Office has been handling the investigation of the shooting, but did not respond to FOX13’s request for comment Tuesday.
Skyes said while he is still in the process of interviewing witnesses of the incident, he does plan to file a lawsuit against the city once they’ve gathered all their evidence.
“There was no justification to use deadly force on this young man,” Sykes said. “It was a violation, a serious violation, of his constitutional rights.”
Regardless of the outcome of Utah County’s investigation, the Hunts believe the two officers involved should no longer be able to work for the city’s police department. Both officers are currently on paid administrative leave.
“I wouldn't have gotten administrative leave and got paid after I murdered somebody, killed somebody,” Hunt said.
