SPRINGVILLE, Utah — Springville Police said a man who struck a police vehicle with his own car and then went after the officer with a knife had called 911 earlier in the night to report himself.
Jonathan Hambleton was identified by police as the person shot and killed by police Friday night in a Walmart parking lot.
Dispatchers received a call at around 11 p.m. from an anonymous man claiming someone was shooting a gun in the parking lot before hanging up. Police believe Hambleton was the person who placed the 911 call.
“Dispatch was able to ping the phone and it did come back to the Walmart,” said Lt. Warren Foster with the Springville Police Department. “Officers rushed to the area of the Walmart.”
Foster said an officer arrived at the east entrance of the lot and parked his car. He said Hambleton then drove up and hit the police vehicle with his own car.
“As the officer did get out of the car, there was a man, feet away from him, holding a knife and coming at him with a knife,” he said.
The officer fired his gun multiple times, killing Hambleton. He died at the scene.
“The investigation is being ran by the Officer-Involved Critical Incident Team,” said Foster.
Foster said officer-involved shootings rarely happen in Springville.
"Two in 27 years," Foster said. "That tells you, at least in my career here, it doesn’t happen very often. And what’s happened in the last three or four weeks in our department is so rare. I’ve never seen this before. Ever."
This is the fourth fatal shooting in less than a month.
On May 18, a Springville high schooler was shot and killed in a murder-suicide.
Three days later, a 25-year-old allegedly shot and killed his former neighbor.
On May 25, police believe a woman allegedly shot and killed her stepfather.
“As many people know, this has been a very difficult few weeks for our department,” said Foster. “But we will get through this.”
Police added that they don't know where Hambleton is from, but said he is a father of four children with a wife and had no prior criminal record in their system.
“We understand the tragedy that has happened. Our hearts go out to them — to his spouse and children. It’s very difficult, and we do understand that,” he said.
