MURRAY, Utah — Newly-released body camera video shows what led to the shooting involving two Murray Police officers that left a man dead and officer injured.
In June 2021, officers received a call from an apartment complex near 900 East and Vine Street from a woman claiming her son, 33-year-old Willie Salazar, was trying to kill her.
“Can I talk to you for a sec? We just need to talk to you, make sure you’re OK,” said the officer to Salazar.
In the video, an officer is seen approaching Salazar, who starts to back up into an apartment hallway.
“Keep your hands where I can see them,” said the officer.
“No, I don’t want to talk,” replied Salazar.
“Don’t run for it,” the officer responded.
The video then shows Salazar firing one shot at the officer, hitting him in the leg before the officer returns fire with four rounds. When the officer realizes he’s been hit, he runs to the side and a second officer approaches the hallway, firing two more shots at Salazar.
“Show me your hands, now! Show me your hands! Get them up where we can see them. Show me your hands!” yelled the second officer.
While the second officer is shouting those commands, the first officer returns and fires three more shots while Salazar is on the ground.
Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said it was “concerning” that one officer was firing their gun while the other officer was asking him to put his hands in the air.
“We could not prove, even on that third incident there, that it was unreasonable,” he said.
Salazar died in the apartment hallway.
“It was really critical of us to make sure how we evaluate those sequences,” said Gill.
Salazar’s gun was found over 14 feet away from his body, with evidence suggesting it could’ve been thrown before the last five gunshots. However, investigators determined there was no evidence the officers knew the gun was no longer with Salazar and the two will not be criminally charged.
Gill said it took a year-and-a-half to review the incident because of the backlog of shootings from that particiular summer. Investigators also needed to bring in more expert analysis.
“We wanted to make sure that we had an outside subject matter person take a look at it so it took a little bit longer time,” said Gill.
