Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
LAKE SHORE, Utah County — A 33-year-old man died after an officer-related shooting Saturday morning.
The shooting involved a deputy from the Utah County Sheriff’s Office, according to Sgt. Spencer Cannon. He said the incident occurred near 4800 South and 3200 West in the Lake Shore area, which is located west of Spanish Fork, at about 11:30 a.m.
Officials said the deputy was in the area looking for Mark Daniel Bess — who had several outstanding warrants for his arrest.
"(The deputy) was looking for an individual and as he identified him, the suspect ran from him," Cannon said. "During the course of the foot pursuit, the suspect presented a threat to the deputy and the deputy fired at the suspect."
The sheriff's office later confirmed that Bess turned around and, with a knife in hand, ran back toward the deputy. Bess was ordered to drop the knife by the deputy, but the suspect did not cooperate and continued to run toward the deputy.
Bess was shot twice by the deputy, according to Cannon. Deputies and bystanders performed CPR at the scene. Bess was transported by medical helicopter to the Utah Valley Regional Medical Center, where he was later declared dead.
@UCSO deputy shoots, kills man who posed "life threatening situation" to deputy. Lakeshore west of Spanish Fork. pic.twitter.com/MOnBdfOFGU
— Alex Cabrero (@KSL_AlexCabrero) April 30, 2016
The deputy was not injured during the incident. Cannon described it as a "deadly" threat that needed to be addressed and said "there was no other option but the choice that was used."
There were several drug-related and traffic-related warrants out for Bess' arrest at the time of the shooting, according to Cannon. He said at least one of the warrants was a felony warrant out of the Salt Lake area, and investigators had been looking for Bess for about a week.
"He's not unknown to law enforcement," Cannon said.
The incident is still under investigation. There were witnesses, including another deputy and a homeowner, who witnessed the altercation, according to Cannon.
According to Cannon, the deputy involved in the incident was not wearing a body camera, as their office does not have body cameras yet.
Contributing: Karilyn Frazier, Dan Jessop, Alex Cabrero, Xoel Cardenas, Jasen Lee
