SOUTH SALT LAKE, Utah — Residents in a South Salt Lake neighborhood are speaking out after a deadly police shooting in the area on Monday.
Two South Salt Lake Police officers were involved in the shooting that killed an armed suspect near the intersection of Robert Avenue and 400 East.
The suspect was identified by police as 44-year-old Jebb Muir.
Community members said it’s scary when incidents like this unfold right in front of where they live.
A woman who lives across the street from where the shooting happened said she had been gardening late, and had just stepped inside her house when she heard rapid gunfire shots.
South Salt Lake police said the officers were responding to a disturbance call for service for a man with a gun, but officials still don’t know the exact circumstances that led to the shooting. Muir, who is believed to have lived in South Salt Lake, died at the scene.
“When I moved in, it was like an elderly community, it was nice, everybody knew everybody up and down the streets, and you don’t know anybody now and everybody comes and goes,” said Alan Rieke, who has lived in South Salt Lake for about 30 years.
Rieke was at the dog park Tuesday morning, right across from where the shooting happened. He said he is worried about increasing crime in the area.
“It doesn’t surprise me, but it does concern me,” said Rieke. “I’ve had to put fences in the yard, build it up, in ways that otherwise I wouldn’t have done.”
The neighbor who heard the gunshots added that she hasn’t seen violence like this on that street before, but it’s scary to think about what could have happened if she was outside her home when the shooting happened.
One of the officers involved was injured by a bullet and taken to the hospital, but has since been discharged and is now recovering at home. The supervisor and a younger patrol officer involved in the shooting have both been placed on administrative leave.
"It's just a heartbreaking situation and thankful that our officers are doing okay," said South Salt Lake executive officer Danielle Croyle.
Since the situation is an officer-involved critical incident, the Salt Lake City Police Department, acting as an outside agency, has taken over the shooting investigation.
