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SYRACUSE — A Syracuse man shot at officers first before they returned fire and killed him last month, according to a report released Wednesday.
The report by the Utah Attorney General's Office on Wednesday ruled that the Jan. 8 shooting death of Thomas Hamby, 49, was legally justified.
Police responded to Hamby's Syracuse home, 2964 W. 2125 South, after his girlfriend reported he was hallucinating and had a gun. Dispatchers warned that Hamby said he would shoot any officers who tried to enter the house, the report states.
Hamby came out the front door with a .22 caliber rifle pointed at the officers, who were positioned behind their cars in front of the house, and he ignored commands to put the gun down, the report states. Instead, he fired.
Two Davis County sheriff's deputies, Joshua McEwen and Neil Major, returned fire, according to the report. Hamby fell to the ground, but as he moved and apparently attempted to raise the gun again, McEwen fired a second time, along with Syracuse police officer Jennifer Walker.
Audio recordings from body cameras that other officers were wearing confirmed that Hamby shot first, the report states.
The report did not provide details about how many shots were fired by the officers and Hamby, nor did it include information about how many times Hamby was shot.
Hamby died three days after the shooting at an area hospital.
A search of state court records indicates that Hamby had no significant criminal history in Utah.
Hamby was the second of three men killed by police officers in Utah so far this year, including a man who was shot and killed in an Avenues neighborhood on the same day.
