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SWAT standoff ends with gunfire, arrests in Salt Lake

Posted at 10:54 AM, Jan 09, 2017
and last updated 2017-01-09 13:06:22-05
Shelby McDougal

Shelby McDougal

SALT LAKE CITY - The standoff started early Monday morning with a 911 hangup call at the Roadway Inn in Salt Lake City.

It ended six hours later with 21-year-old Shelby McDougal and 47-year-old John Mendengall booked into the Salt Lake County Jail.

Officers went to investigate the 911 hang up at the Roadway Inn just after 1 a.m.

The pair in the room said everything was fine and the officers could go.

However, police said they were required to look inside the room to be sure before they could go.

That is when the situation spiraled out of control.

The motel manager tried to get the couple to come out of the room which is when authorities heard gunshots inside the room.

John Mendenhall

John Mendenhall

Officers evacuated the floor and called in the SWAT team.

Authorities tried to negotiate with the suspects until just after 6 a.m. when they used tear gas inside the room.

The suspects fired several more shots at officers, who did not return fire.

Moments later, the suspects came out of the room and were arrested for assaulting officers, illegal possession of firearms and obstruction of justice.

Officers said Mendenhall and McDougall have had numerous, prior run-ins with the law and both had active arrest warrants.

No one was seriously injured in this incident.