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SOUTH SALT LAKE — A South Salt Lake police officer was "fighting for his life" at a hospital Saturday night after being hit by a car occupied by alleged burglars, one of whom was shot and killed by police, authorities say.
The officer was taken to a nearby hospital in critical condition, said South Salt Lake executive officer and spokesman Gary Keller.
Around 5:30 p.m, a burglary in progress was reported to police at 3575 S. West Temple, and when two South Salt Lake police officers arrived a few minutes later, "there was a confrontation between the suspects and the officers," Keller said.
"The suspects were in a car. They accelerated (and) did hit one of our officers. He was transported to a hospital in critical condition and was taken immediately into surgery, where he is at this point. There were shots fired by police. One of the suspects was hit by gunfire; he is deceased," he said.
The name and age of the alleged burglar who was killed was not released. The injured officer was also not identified further than being a member of the South Salt Lake Police Department.
"We have one officer in the hospital fighting for his life," Keller said, his voice quivering with emotion.
Keller noted the police officer was not conscious, but was breathing, when he was transported from the scene.
The second alleged burglar abandoned the vehicle and fled from the scene. He was later found hiding and arrested a short distance away with the help of K-9 officers, Keller said. His name and age were also not released.
The entire ordeal happened "within a block, maybe two blocks," according to Keller.
Keller didn't immediately have any information about which of the officers fired shots, or whether it may have been both of them. He didn't know whether it was the driver or passenger inside the vehicle who was killed by gunfire.
Additional details about what investigators believe may have happened before the confrontation that led to shots fired were also not immediately available. Keller said "more than one" shot was fired, but he didn't know exactly how many.
Details about the alleged burglary were few, though Keller noted it was reported at a business complex.
Shortly after 9 p.m., Keller said police believe there is no remaining threat to the public.
"(The) suspects are accounted for, they are in custody. There is no threat to the public right now. It's a massive crime scene (that) we are investigating. ... We've had a lot of response from outside agencies," Keller said.
South Salt Lake police also said in a short release that "numerous officers" responded to the scene.
Keller said South Salt Lake police command staff and others in the agency were at the hospital Saturday night where the injured officer was undergoing surgery.
"It's tough on everybody in the entire department when you have an officer injured to this extent," Keller said. "So it's very tough, but we need to do our job — need to keep moving on, moving forward, and that's where we're at at this time."
Contributing: Sean Moody, KSL TV
