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Police say that officer involved shooting in West Valley City was attempted robbery

Posted at 4:53 PM, Nov 14, 2017
and last updated 2017-11-14 18:53:16-05

WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah – Police released that an officer involved shooting that occurred on November 7 was an attempted robbery.

In an update released by Roxeanne Vainiku, Public Information Officer for the West Valley City Police Department, an off duty police officer was walking to check his mail at a communal mailbox at 1250 West 3301 South.

As the officer walked back home, he was confronted by two suspects armed with a handgun. According to the update, the incident appeared to be an aggravated robbery, and the officer “feared for his own life.”

The report stated:

“At approximately 7:25pm, the officer contacted police dispatch by radio and informed them that he had been shot. Shortly after this call, the two teenage suspects in the case arrived at a local hospital in a vehicle matching the description of the vehicle seen fleeing the scene where the officer was shot. A 17-year-old male had sustained a single gunshot wound. A 15-year-old male sustained two gunshot wounds.”

The officer was not in uniform when the incident occurred, and there was no information to indicate that the suspects knew he was a police officer at the time of the attempted robbery.

The report stated that the officer was shot once, but was released from the hospital, and was recovering.

According to the report:

“As is standard protocol, the officer has been placed on paid administrative leave while the investigation into this incident is underway. The officer involved has been with the West Valley City Police Department for three years and is assigned to Patrol.”

The incident is under investigation by the Officer Involved Critical Incident Team, which is led by the Unified Police Department.