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SALT LAKE CITY -- Neighbors in a Salt Lake City apartment complex are hoping for a calm, quiet night. This, after officers shot and killed a man who was threatening strangers with a gun Saturday.
The shooting happened around 2 a.m., but left behind quite the scene. Multiple bullet holes remain in a door at the Covey Apartments where police fired their guns at the 20-year-old suspect.
All the sudden the crime scene tape was up and there were cops everywhere.
–Hannah Rea
Police were called to the scene at 245 E. South Temple after someone reported Favian Martinez had a gun and was pointing it at people in the area. When officers arrived, Martinez ran in front of the apartment building.
Police say he didn't follow orders. "He made some furtive and threatening movements and at that point the officers fired their weapons," said Sgt. Robin Snyder with the Salt Lake City Police Department.
It was a wakeup call residents will never forget. Hannah Rea heard the noise from the confrontation.
"I was woken up by gunshots," she said. "I think there were eight of them, a neighbor said six. All the sudden the crime scene tape was up and there were cops everywhere."
Neighbor Keiko Mori was startled as well. "I came out to the front and I saw a lot of police cars," she said.
Information floated through the balconies at the apartment complex as neighbors watched crime scene technicians work.
"It was about two hours me and my neighbors sat out on the balcony trying to figure out what was going on," Rea said.
Martinez was taken to a local hospital where he died.
There's not an officer who wants to take a life of another person. In training you're told that if the chance arises that someone is being threatened with serious bodily injury or death, you've got to take action.
–Sgt. Robin Snyder
Two officers have been placed on administrative leave while the district attorney's office investigates. Both of those actions are routine in a case like this.
"There's not an officer who wants to take a life of another person," Snyder said. "In training you're told that if the chance arises that someone is being threatened with serious bodily injury or death, you've got to take action."
As for neighbors, the bullet holes in the glass doors were a startling reminder of what happened. "One of the first things I thought was this is a really nice neighborhood," Rea said. "Not that bad things can't happen, but I was surprised."
KSL looked into Martinez's background and discovered he pleaded guilty last year to attempted aggravated assault as well as providing false identification.
E-mail: sdallof@ksl.com
