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Alex Cabrero ReportingA man who police say shot at them is now dead himself. Police say the Salt Lake City officer had no other choice but to defend himself during last night's shooting. It happened near 10th South and 2nd East.
Police are still trying to figure out who the man is. It all began last night with a call of shots being fired in the neighborhood. When police arrived, they saw a man with a gun, and it only got worse from there.
Bonnie Gutierrez: "It woke me up. I heard about five shots."
Bonnie Gutierrez says there's usually something going on in her neighborhood. Last night, though, that something was a little too close.
Bonnie Gutierrez, Heard Gunshots: "They had the whole street roped off. The crime scene tape, it was pretty intense."
At about 10:30 Friday night, an officer received a description of a man neighbors say was shooting his gun in the area. When the officer drove there, he saw the man and got out of his patrol car.
Joe Cyr, Salt Lake City Police Dept.: "There was a very short foot pursuit, wherein the suspect actually shot his gun towards the officer."
Fortunately for the officer, he wasn't hit. Unfortunately for the man who shot at him, police are trained for these exact situations.
Joe Cyr, Salt Lake City Police Dept.: "We are trained to protect ourselves and to stop the threat, especially a deadly threat."
The officer felt his life was in danger and had no choice but to shoot back.
Joe Cyr, Salt Lake City Police Dept.: "The officer returned fire, and the suspect is deceased."
Chris Calderon and his friends heard it all happen.
Chris Calderon, Heard Gunshots: "I was just standing in the living room, and I heard a bunch of gunshots, and I poked my head out the door."
What he saw was too many police cars to count and enough flashing lights to see why they were there.
Chris Calderon: "There was a guy laying in the middle of the sidewalk."
A guy police say did two things no one should ever do -- point a gun at an officer and shoot.
Joe Cyr, Salt Lake City Police Dept.: "It's definitely unjustified on the suspect's part. There's no reason to do that."
Bonnie Gutierrez: "They had to do what they had to do. It's too bad."
Again, police don't have an exact ID on the man who was killed. The officer involved is on routine paid leave until this all gets sorted out.
