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SOUTH SALT LAKE -- A South Jordan police officer was shot in the leg while trying to arrest a wanted man. The officer, identified as Stevan Gerber, was working with the U.S. Marshals Joint Criminal Apprehension Team (JCAT) Thursday morning when he was shot. He is expected to be OK.
The team was in South Salt Lake to arrest 29-year-old Troy Cabibi, who had violated his parole.
Around 1 a.m. JCAT located Cabibi at an apartment complex near 3000 South and 300 East.
Chief Deputy Jim Thompson of the U.S. Marshals Office said, "We had information that he was likely to have a gun with him."
Officers approached the apartment and announced who they were and that they were coming inside. That is when Gerber was shot in the leg.
Thompson explained, "We did not enter the apartment at all. We broke the door open with a battering ram. As soon as the door opened, that's when the shots rang out from inside, shooting at the officers."
Authorities say officers didn't return fire because they knew other people, including an infant, were in the apartment and because they didn't have a clear view of the suspect. They say that shows good training and restraint.
"Those are all tactical decisions they have to make in a split second, which is very difficult," explained Thompson.
After the shooting, JCAT retreated from the apartment and instructed the people inside to come out. Eventually Cabibi, Bradley James Olmos, a woman and her infant emerged and were taken into custody.
Cabibi, who was originally charged with negligent homicide, has been booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on federal attempted homicide charges, even though police have not said if he was the one who fired the gun.
He went to prison in 1999 for manslaughter. Prison officials say he was first paroled in 2008 and arrested the following year for violating that parole. He got out of prison in July 2009. Authorities say Cabibi failed to report an arrest, violating his most recent parole.
Olmos was booked on attempted aggravated murder.
The woman was interviewed and released.
Officer Gerber expected to be OK
Lt. Matt Evans of the South Jordan Police Department said, "He [Gerber] was in good spirits when we spoke with him. He is expected to make a full recovery."
Officer Gerber was taken to a hospital in serious condition. His fellow officers say the bullet shattered his femur. He underwent surgery and is expected to be OK.
That's the phone call you never want to get, to find out that one of your officers has been shot.
–Lt. Matt Evans
He is the first in JCAT's and the South Jordan Police Department's histories to be shot. The news of his injury was unexpected.
"That's the phone call that you never want to get," Evans said, "to find out that one of your officers has been shot. Obviously you have concerns about what transpired. Fortunately with all the information we have now, it sounds like he'll make a full recovery."
Gerber has worked for the South Jordan Police Department for five years and has been a member of JCAT for just under two years. He also is a member of the South Jordan SWAT Team and a field training officer.
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Story compiled with information from : Sandra Yi, Shara Park and Andrew Adams.
