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Brian Wood was shot and killed a month ago during a 12-hour standoff in front of his home in Farmington. After weeks of investigating, the Utah Attorney General says the Davis County deputy who shot and killed Wood was justified.
Today, the Attorney General's Office sent a letter to the Davis County attorney saying Wood posed an imminent threat to the officers and himself.
It all started in late September with a 911 call from Wood. When the dispatcher answered, he said, "Yeah, I just beat and raped my wife. Come get me."
The attorney general's letter issued tonight says when police arrived, quote: "Ms. Wood told officers that her husband, Brian Wood, had beaten her with his fists, attempted to rape her and did forcibly sexually assault her."
The letter says police had good reason for being at the home, and they tried to get Wood to surrender, but he just stayed in his pickup truck with two handguns.
As hours went by, police used several non-lethal methods to get him to surrender, including tasing him.
During this time, the attorney general's letter says Wood fired a round, quote: "striking a vehicle a few feet away from them (officers). A Davis County deputy sheriff heard the shot ... and saw Wood pointing his handgun in the direction of himself and officers."
Based on that evidence, the attorney general says police were justified in shooting Wood.
But in the aftermath came an outcry from Woods' family. Yet tonight, they have remained silent.
There have also been no comments on camera from the attorney general, Farmington's police chief or the Davis County attorney. Everyone is letting the letter do the talking.
We did talk on the phone with a man who says he's a friend of the Wood family. Jeff Clark tells us the family believes there's more to the story than police are saying.
"[The attorney general's] investigation was solely compiled, and their release was from the reports of the active agencies involved in the situation; and that's it," Clark said.
There have been rumors that Wood's family will file a lawsuit against the Farmington Police Department, but Clark would not comment on that.
"At this point in time, nothing that any individual does is gonna change with what happened, and nothing's gonna bring Brian back," Clark said.
He says his biggest concern is that what happened to Wood does not happen to another individual.
To read the full report, click the related link to the right of the story.
E-mail: gkennedy@ksl.com
E-mail: pnelson@ksl.com
