DAVIS COUNTY, Utah — A massive manhunt Friday morning ended nearly eight hours after it began when the suspect was shot and killed by police.
According to law enforcement officials, the suspect, Joseph Manhard, allegedly carjacked a man in Clearfield before fleeing from officers and ramming cruisers. Manhard then ran into a home in a Farmington neighborhood where he held a family at gunpoint for several hours.
The standoff came to an end when a Salt Lake City police officer fired at Manhard, who was transported by helicopter to a hospital where he was declared dead.
A Salt Lake City police officer was the one who fired the fatal shot. The incident now being handled by the Davis County officer involved critical incident protocol team and it’s likely going to take a while because there were at least a half dozen agencies involved.
The hostages were being checked over by medical personnel at the scene.
In a statement released Friday afternoon, Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brown stood by his officer's decision to fire at the suspect.
"The courageous action of our officer is an example of the finest professionalism and bravery displayed by our members every day. I stand by and support our officer’s decision," said Brown.
The manhunt for Joseph Manhard is over, After allegedly car jacking a man in Clearfield, fleeing from cops & ramming cruisers, he ran into a Farmington neighborhood where police say he held a family at gunpoint until he was shot by officers, no word yet on his condition pic.twitter.com/jxUfdW34fG
— scott mckane (@macfox13) September 10, 2021
During the standoff, a shelter in place order was issued for the neighborhood, which was later lifted.
Multiple police units were blocking the I-15 frontage roads on both sides of the interstate near the Farmington-Centerville line early Friday morning starting around 5 a.m. as they searched for the "armed and dangerous" suspect.
Police said Manhard had multiple active felony warrants.
The search involved at least a couple of dozen police officers and SWAT team members from a half dozen agencies.
Davis School District called for a late start to Reading and Stewart Elementaries due to the manhunt which has been ongoing for hours. They are due to begin classes at 10:30 a.m.
Police released a picture of Manhard and said he was last seen wearing a red shirt/hoodie and a black hat.
Manhard’s original charges and arrest warrants are out of Layton for an incident earlier this week and apparently involve multiple felonies including aggravated assault.
Clearfield PD now say they looking for 32 yol Joseph Manard, considered armed & dangerous, after he allegedly car jacked someone earlier this morning, actually firing a shot into vehicle before fleeing from police, yard to yard search now underway in Farmington pic.twitter.com/HrZxWqeA5U
— scott mckane (@macfox13) September 10, 2021
About 1:30 this morning in Clearfield, police say Manhard carjacked a person, firing a shot into the victims car before taking the vehicle and speeding away south.
Officials spotted him and pursued him down into the Farmington area where they were were able to lay down tire spikes and disable the vehicle.
He crashed the vehicle in a ditch next to I-15.
At that point Manhard took off on foot and that’s when this massive police search began. They do consider him to be armed and very dangerous.
The frontage road on the border of Farmington and Centerville has been blocked for hours and will likely remain that way for a while. So, police are urging people to avoid this area and plan for an alternate route this morning.
