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FARMINGTON — Utah law enforcers — including a marksman with the Salt Lake City Police SWAT team — who had surrounded a Farmington house where a man had been holding a family hostage at gunpoint for hours, were given the authority to shoot the man at first sight, according to newly released report.
According to the Davis County Attorney Office's final report (released Tuesday through a government public records request) on the fatal officer-involved shooting of Joseph Anthony Manhard, police commanders on scene that morning raised the threat level to "target of opportunity" and "open authority."
"This threat level means that the person inflicting the threat has met the threshold for operators to stop the threat by any means necessary if the suspect presents himself. This authorization stated that even if operators were not able to see the weapon, there was enough intel that the suspect had the imminent means and intention to do serious bodily harm or kill the hostages," the report states.
On Sept. 10, Manhard, 32, was shot and killed by a sniper with the Salt Lake City Police Department's SWAT team as he stepped out onto the front porch of 1645 S. Tuscany Grove Circle, ending a nearly seven-hour standoff. Last week, the Davis County Attorney's office determined the shooting was legally justified. And the family held hostage has praised the actions of police, saying the officers saved their lives.
Now, some details of that harrowing seven hour hostage ordeal were made public for the first time Tuesday in the final report from the Davis County Attorney's Office. At one point during the standoff, a family member was able to take Manhard's gun and fired a shot at him but missed, prompting Manhard to fight to get his gun back and attempt to shoot one of his hostages, according to the report.
Amazingly, no one was injured by gunfire inside the house.
More than 100 officers were on scene that day, including nearly 80 SWAT officers from the Layton, Syracuse, North Salt Lake, Clearfield, Bountiful, Centerville, Farmington, Kaysville, West Bountiful and Salt Lake City police departments, as well as the Davis County Sheriff's Office.
Manhard was a wanted suspect
Police had actually been looking for Manhard starting on Sept. 8 when he threatened his ex-girlfriend with a gun, according to the report. He attempted to break into his brother's house in Clearfield on Sept. 9 and kill his brother's girlfriend, the report states, and then returned to his brother's house just before 1:30 a.m. on Sept. 10. Police spotted him and gave chase.
Manhard fled into the Freeport Center, where police later found his abandoned vehicle. While investigating that scene, emergency dispatchers received a 911 call from a woman about a quarter-mile away who said she had been carjacked at gunpoint. The woman told police that Manhard tried to take her car and then fired a round through the window when she initially resisted, according to police. The woman, uninjured, got out of her car and Manhard drove off.
The stolen vehicle was spotted a short time later by police in the area of 800 N. Main, in Clearfield. Manhard ran one officer off the road while trying to avoid being captured, according to police. He then fled on I-15 where Utah Highway Patrol troopers and Davis County sheriff's deputies began another chase.
That chase ended when the tires on Manhard's vehicle were spiked. He abandoned the stolen car near Shepard Lane and ran across the freeway into a nearby neighborhood.
As police searched the area, Manhard "fired a shot into the large front window to the side of the front door" of a house, the report states. A bullet hole was left in the glass, but it did not shatter and Manhard could not get inside.
That's when he found an open basement window on Tuscany Grove Circle and entered the house.
Held hostage for 7 hours
There were three people in the house when Manhard entered. The names of all hostages were redacted in the county attorney's report.
Manhard walked up two flights of stairs and took his first hostage at gunpoint, according to the report. Manhard led the woman into the garage and they both got into a vehicle, the report states. But Manhard stated he needed aluminum foil so he could do drugs and then went back into the house with his hostage stating he needed to consume drugs, according to the report.
About 3 a.m., a daughter who lives in the house returned home and was immediately confronted by Manhard. Manhard then led his two hostages upstairs at gunpoint, the report states.
By 3:30 a.m., Manhard had consumed drugs multiple times, according to the report. He was on a couch watching television with his hostages when he began to nod off and set the gun down.
As Manhard stood up to keep himself awake, one of the hostages "grabs hold of the Glock handgun and fires a shot at Joseph, attempting to shoot him in the leg. (She) missed Joseph and he immediately began to attack her," the report states.
Manhard punched the woman in the face and hit her arms as he attempted to get his gun back, according to the report. As they fell to the floor and fought, Manhard was able to regain control of the gun, the report states.
The woman crawled to a nearby bathroom a few feet away and turned to shut the door.
"As she did so, Joseph pointed the gun at her and pulled the trigger. (She) said for some reason the gun didn't shoot and she closed the door," according to the report.
Manhard then pointed the gun at his other hostage and told the woman in the bathroom to "come out or she gets it," the report states. The woman came out of the bathroom and sat back down on the couch.
Just before 4 a.m., the boyfriend of one of the daughters called. Manhard listened to the phone call and told the daughter to have the boyfriend come over so he didn't think anything was wrong, the report states. When the boyfriend arrived just after 4 a.m., he too was taken hostage.
It was at this time that the father, who was still in the house, was woken up and found his wife and daughter being held hostage at gunpoint on the couch, according to the report.
By 5:35 a.m., the father told Manhard he had to leave for an appointment and attempted to get Manhard to go with him to get him out of the house, the report states. Manhard refused, but told the father to go to his appointment "so it wouldn't be suspicious," according to the report. After the father was allowed to leave the house, he found police nearby and directed them to his home and told them that he and his family had been held hostage for the past four hours and that four people were still inside.
About 5:50 a.m., Salt Lake City SWAT members were called to assist as police surrounded the house.
Also about this time, a second daughter, who had been asleep in the basement, walked to the landing of the stairs and saw Manhard holding a gun. The girl quietly went back down to the basement and got out of the house through a window, the report states, leaving three hostages in the home.
"(Police) were able to see her climb out and they respond and met up with her as she was walking away from her residence," the report states.
At that point, and "based on the previous two days of violent aggravating felonies," and now, "holding five people hostage at gunpoint for several hours, and his complete disregard towards his life and the life of others," the decision was made by police commanders to give SWAT teams the green light to shoot Manhard if they had the chance, the report states.
By 6:30 a.m., hostage negotiators were able to make contact with Manhard. At 8 a.m., Manhard said he was "willing to open a door and show that the hostages were not injured," according to the report. But he also stated that "they were not free to leave and he was not surrendering."
As hostage negotiators continued to talk to Manhard, they "were told that Joseph was saying he was going to end it all and just needed to tie up loose ends," the report states.
Manhard talked to his brother on the phone and was heard stating his options were committing suicide or fleeing to Mexico, according to the report. He also stated that "if the police came in, he would put a gun to one of the hostage's head," the report states.
Just after 9 a.m., Manhard again agreed to take his three hostages to the front door to show police they were not injured, but he said he was not surrendering, according to the report. Manhard initially stayed concealed behind the front door, but when he didn't see any police, he "peered further into the doorway exposing himself further," according to the report.
At that point, a Salt Lake City SWAT marksman took a single shot, striking Manhard in the head, the report states. Manhard then fell forward into the house and slammed the door closed.
SWAT officers immediately rushed in and kicked in the door. They entered to find him on the ground as other SWAT team members entered through other parts of the house, the report states.
The boyfriend had minor injuries to his face and "kept mumbling, 'I think I got grazed,'" according to the report. The mother and daughter were found on the landing to the garage stairs "terrified and shaking uncontrollably," the report states.
Manhard was taken to a local hospital where he died a short time later from his injuries.
