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WEST VALLEY CITY — A SWAT team and police K-9 dog aided in an arrest Friday night after West Valley police say a man fired a gun at officers, threw items out the window at them and eventually left the home holding a sword.
West Valley police were dispatched at 10:08 p.m. to the home near 3320 S. and Greenmont Drive, Lt. Sean McCarthy said. A woman called the police to report domestic violence, McCarthy said, but she had already fled the scene when she made the call.
According to a probable cause statement, the woman reported to police that she had been held hostage since Nov. 1 and that, in addition to being threatened with a gun, cut with glass, and not being allowed to have enough food and drink, she was forced to witness the man murder an unidentified woman, have sexual intercourse with him, and drink WD-40. Court documents said that "it is not determined at this point if an unidentified female was murdered."
After police arrived, they learned that 50-year-old Garman Shaun Cunningham was armed with a gun, McCarthy said. Cunningham refused to leave the residence, leading the SWAT team to respond to the situation as well. McCarthy said that the suspect "fired several gunshots inside the residence"; the probable cause statement said one shot was fired at officers.
Eventually, Cunningham attempted to flee the scene on foot, leaving through a back door of the residence with a sword, police said. Police used less-lethal force to get him to drop his sword and he was soon caught by a police K-9 dog, McCarthy said.
Cunningham was booked into jail for investigation of multiple charges including aggravated kidnapping, assault against a peace officer, four counts of aggravated assault, felony discharge of a firearm, criminal mischief, possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person, failure to stop at the command of a law officer, and interference with an arresting officer.
Cunningham was injured by the K-9, and the woman was transported to a hospital, which McCarthy said was a precaution. The investigation is ongoing.
