SARATOGA SPRINGS — Two police officers were legally justified when they shot and killed Darrien Hunt in September, investigators determined Monday.

During a confrontation on Sept. 10 that lasted just 37 seconds, Saratoga Springs Police Cpl. Matt Schauerhamer and officer Nicholas Judson fired seven shots after Hunt "swung or swiped" a 3-foot-long katana sword at one or both of them and then took off running toward several businesses where there were "immediately accessible" customers, said Utah County Attorney Jeffrey Buhman.

"I find that Cpl. Schauerhamer's actions … were reasonable. Cpl. Schauerhamer shot Mr. Hunt in order to prevent his own death or serious bodily injury, and in order to prevent the death and serious bodily injury of other people," Buhman said.

Attorneys for both of Hunt’s parents disagreed with the findings Monday, calling the shooting unjustified and saying they don’t believe Hunt posed an immediate threat to the officers or people who were in the area.

“It’s unbelievable that (Schauerhamer) really believed, or reasonably believed, that he was somehow at risk,” said Robert Sykes, who represents Hunt’s mother, Susan Hunt. “We don’t believe it, and we don’t think a jury will believe it."

Sykes and attorney Karra Porter, who is representing Hunt’s father, said both parents are preparing to file a wrongful death lawsuit.

Monday's decision came nearly two months after Hunt's death. Buhman said he broke his investigation into two parts: the initial confrontation with the officers, and the shots that were fired as Hunt was running away. In both cases, he said he found the officers' use of deadly force was legally justified.

District attorney's findings

Officers were called to the area at 9:40 a.m. that day after receiving a 911 call reporting that a man carrying a sword looked suspicious. During the initial confrontation, as Schauerhamer approached Hunt first to find out what he was doing with the sword, it started off as a routine, "everyday conversation."

"Hey man. What's going on?" Schauerhamer asked, according to Buhman's report.

"I'm looking for a ride," Hunt replied.

Schauerhamer then asked Hunt to place his sword on the hood of his patrol car. He refused, according to the officers.

"Why not?" Schauerhamer asked.

"It's my sword," Hunt replied.

"OK. You can't just set your sword on the hood of my car for a second?" asked Schauerhamer.

Hunt then told the officers he was looking for a ride to Orem. Schauerhamer said he told Hunt he would be willing to give him a ride, but he couldn't have the sword with him.

"Well, you're gonna be in the back of a police car, man. You can't have a sword with you," Schauerhamer said, according to the report.

At this point, there was a short pause, followed by Hunt "rapidly and without warning" taking the sword out of its sheath and swinging it "at one or both of the officers," the report states.

Buhman said his office has no idea why Hunt's attitude changed so quickly.

"That's a question we wish we could answer," he said.

According to the two officers and two witnesses from the nearby Top Stop, Hunt "abruptly and without apparent provocation withdrew the sword from the sheath” and swung the sword at the officer.

Apparently each officer thought it was the at other whom Hunt was swinging, the investigators concluded.

“From the officers' perspective, there could have been no other purpose to Mr. Hunt’s actions” except that he meant to harm them, Buhman said. In fact, Schauerhamer said he was "100 percent certain" that Hunt's intent was to harm them, the report states.

Schauerhamer fired two shots, and is believed to have hit Hunt in the shoulder and forearm. Judson also fired a shot. With the sword still in hand, Hunt then turned and ran toward the nearby Panda Express, according to the report.

That's when Schauerhamer chased after him and fired more rounds.

Related:

Affidavit: Officers believed Darrien Hunt was a threat to others

A man apparently carrying a Samurai sword was shot and killed by Saratoga Springs police Wednesday outside a Redwood Road restaurant.

Buhman said all Schauerhamer could think about were the customers at the nearby Panda Express, the Top Stop, an auto parts store and a Wal-Mart. He feared that Hunt would "hack the first person he saw," and told investigators he felt he and Judson were still in danger “because (Hunt) couldn’t let him escape while he was still armed.”

Attorneys for Hunt's family have argued — and reiterated Monday — that the use of deadly force was no longer appropriate after Hunt ran away from the officers.

"We do not believe there was a 'swing' taken with the sword, as they allege," Sykes said. "But even if that happened, the shooting in the back was not justified."

But Buhman said Hunt "could have reached someone else in matter of seconds."

Schauerhamer fired four more shots. Of the seven shots fired, he fired six of them, Buhman said.

"This happened so quickly, violently and without provocation," he said when asked why the officers didn't use a Taser or a nonlethal weapon. "The officers had to do what was most immediately available to them, which was their firearms."

A report from the Utah State Medical Examiner's Office concluded that Hunt was shot six times, all from behind. A seventh shot was believed to have landed in a field nearby. Hunt suffered three "perforating wounds," or bullets that had both an entry and an exit point, and three "penetrating wounds," or wounds where the bullet was still lodged in his body.

The medical examiner recovered bullets from Hunt's right upper lung, left elbow and left hip. Those three shots — in no particular order — entered Hunt in his right back, the back of his left upper arm and his back left hip, according to the autopsy.

The medical examiner's report also determined that Hunt did not have any measurable amount of drugs or alcohol in his system at the time of the shooting.

Disputing claims of police brutality

When asked whether his decision would have been different if Hunt had continued running but dropped the sword, Buhman said it isn't reasonable to speculate on the "what ifs."

"What's key here is the totality of what occurred. There's no one particular thing that drives the decision. It's the totality of Mr. Hunt's actions from the beginning of the encounter through the end," he said. "I don't find it reasonable to require Cpl. Schauerhamer to permit a person who is armed and who most immediately attempted to wound or kill police officers, to escape into a populated commercial or retail area."

If the officers had allowed Hunt to continue running without attempting to stop him, "he would have posed an extreme danger to Utah County (residents)," Buhman said.

Hunt's mother, Susan Hunt, who is white, said she believes the shooting of her son was racially motivated. Darrien Hunt is black. Buhman said Monday that race was not a factor in his decision.

"I find absolutely no evidence that race, ethnicity, color, gender or age was any factor at all in what occurred, or did not occur, on Sept. 10," he said.

Sykes said he has been unable to address whether Hunt's race played a role in the shooting because he has been "shut out" from receiving information about the case by Buhman and the Saratoga Springs Police Department.

Another question that has surrounded the case is what kind of sword Hunt actually had. On Monday, an investigator held up Hunt's sword to the media to let them see it firsthand.

Both Buhman and Saratoga Springs police stressed the sword was not a toy.

"The claim that Mr. Hunt's sword is not a weapon has no merit in the context of what occurred and, in fact, the sword is clearly a dangerous weapon," Buhman wrote in his report.

He also noted that the 28-inch blade on the sword wasn't completely dull and was able to cut.

Monday's decision was applauded by the Saratoga Springs Police Department.

"Cpl. Schauerhamer and officer Judson have outstanding records as police officers and have performed their duties as police officers with fidelity and professionalism. In this situation, they followed their police training, followed Utah law, made a difficult decision in a matter of a split second, and upheld their sworn duty to protect others from harm. We recognize that the finding of the county attorney may not bring closure to the Hunt family. It is our hope that the community can now move forward in the healing process," Chief Andy Burton wrote in a prepared statement.

Both attorneys for Hunt's parents criticized the Saratoga Springs Police Department for resisting releasing information to them about the investigation.

"Frankly, we are mystified as to why (Top Stop surveillance video) has not yet been released," Porter said. "On a case like that, that is high-profile and is being watched, in my experience there has been more openness on the part of the investigating body."

Susan Hunt did not comment Monday, but Sykes said she is "disappointed and dumbfounded" with investigators' conclusions.

Both attorneys said Hunt's parents hope their son's death will prompt increased deadly force training or other solutions for Utah police to prevent future officer-involved shootings.

Contributing: Nkoyo Iyamba and Andrew Adams

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