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ROY — A woman was recovering from injuries Sunday after she was shot in what police were calling an episode of domestic violence.
Police said the incident occurred late Saturday night in Roy at a home located near 3800 West and 4750 South when a husband and wife got into an argument after the husband had thrown a liquor bottle at a female friend who was in the house at the time, striking her in the head. Following that alleged assault, the man then threatened his wife with a handgun, firing multiple shots and striking her in the lower extremities, investigators said.
She was able to flee, eventually running to a neighbor’s home down the street. The man pursued for a short time, firing shots from his front stoop that left bullet holes in the siding of the house and in the siding of the home across the street.
SALT LAKE CITY — Two domestic violence related assaults occurred in just 24 hours over Saturday night and Sunday evening. Both involved guns, and one woman received seriously injuries. An increased trend of domestic violence is not all that uncommon this time of year. Sunday was a busy night at work for Brittany Coleman. "I took 6 calls throughout the night of people trying to come in and get shelter," she said. Coleman works the evening shift at Safe Harbor Crisis Center in Kaysville, a place where woman and children can find refuge in times of abuse. "Starting around Thanksgiving through Christmas, it gets really high and we usually will hit maximum capacity," Coleman said. She wanted victims of domestic violence to know that regardless of the time of year, there is always somewhere to go. As demand goes up at these types of shelters during the holidays, donations typically tend to go down. Safe Harbo Crisis Center is in need of basic hygiene items like clothes and food.
“This is a house that we’ve had a history with,” said Roy Police chief Greg Whinham. “We made arrests prior for domestic violence and yet this happened again and escalated to the point where a gun was used.”
Following a two-hour standoff with police, Christopher Locke, 41, eventually surrendered without incident and was booked into Weber County Jail pending multiple charges including attempted homicide, Whinham said.
The wife, whose name was not released, was taken to the hospital and treated for non-life threatening injuries. She remained in stable condition Sunday.
The second victim in the incident received minor injuries from being struck by the bottle. Whinham said the 5-year old son of the couple was also in the house at the time, but was unharmed.
Next door neighbor Jay Poulsen said authorities are called to the house almost every month regarding domestic disturbances — mostly involving alcohol.
“(They argued) about bills, mostly financial issues,” he said. “Usually he would just yell, scream and leave — take off on his motorcycle.”
When the most recent argument escalated, the wife was able to leave, running down the street where she sought refuge at neighbor Leah Apodaca’s home.
“My husband was in the garage and heard the gunshots. He peeked his head out, noticed the victim running and saying that she had been shot,” she said. “We brought her in the house and called police.”
“She said that she had an argument and that her husband had shot her,” Apodaca continued. “I got her down on the floor and just tried to keep her as calm as possible. It was really scary.”
