Estimated read time: Less than a minute
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 Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information.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.
(KSL News) Police responding to reports of a man with a gun outside the Latter-day Saint Provo temple last night were able to end the situation peacefully.
Two men were seen on the grounds northwest of the temple, one with a semi-automatic gun at about 11:30 p.m. When police arrived, they determined one of the men was suicidal, and the other was a friend trying to convince the first to put the gun down.
Officers contacted the suicidal man by cell phone and spoke with him for more than an hour. Between the officers and the friend, the man was convinced to put the gun down.
He was taken into custody and transported to the Utah Valley Regional Medical Center, where he will receive a mental health evaluation.
The 25-year-old suicidal man was apparently despondent over recent action taken against him by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Police are not releasing his identity.
