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TAYLORSVILLE — Police have identified a man who was shot by a West Jordan police officer Wednesday after he allegedly shot another man during an altercation outside a bar.
Andrew Jorge Davison Thomas, 24, of Salt Lake City, remained hospitalized in critical but stable condition Thursday after the off-duty officer responding to reports of the shooting at the bar located him and shot him in an "armed confrontation."
The officer was headed home after his shift and got word of the shooting outside the Barbary Coast Saloon, 4242 S. State, and recognized the car next to him on I-215 as the vehicle linked to the incident.
The officer followed the car to a home in Taylorsville, 2456 W. Dutch Draw Dr. (4205 South), where he confronted Thomas, ultimately shooting him once in the torso, police said.
West Jordan police declined to answer questions about the officer's name or any information about how long he has worked in law enforcement.
A search of Utah court records indicates Thomas was charged May 10 with forgery for allegedly trying to cash a stolen check for $4,000. Withdrawals on the same account from other stolen checks had left the account overdrawn $22,700, charges state.
Thomas is also facing a charge of misdemeanor drug possession filed in October.
Thomas' prior convictions include aggravated assault, possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, failure to stop at the command of law enforcement, carrying a concealed dangerous weapon, and giving false personal information to a police officer.
Unified police are investigating the Barbary Coast shooting while the West Jordan Police Department has referred the officer-involved shooting for review under the county's critical incident protocol.
Initial reports of the Barbary Coast shooting indicated a second man left the bar with Thomas, Unified Police Lt. Lex Bell said, but it appears only one person arrived at the home on Dutch Draw Drive. Police were working to identify anyone else who may have been involved in the altercation.
Bell said the "two groups" in the altercation that occurred just after midnight outside the bar were not patrons there but had come to the parking lot in separate cars. Investigators are still determining what sparked the confrontation but do not believe the encounter was random, he said.
The victim in the shooting, a 29-year-old man, was shot through his upper thigh and has been released from the hospital, Bell said. His name has not been released.
Anyone with information about the Barbary Coast shooting is asked to call Unified police at 801-743-7000.
