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ST. GEORGE — An elderly man shot and killed by police near the Utah-Arizona border had pointed a gun at officers, prompting police to use deadly force, according to court documents.
About 7:20 a.m. on Aug. 3, St. George police and Utah Highway Patrol troopers were alerted to a suspicious vehicle near the Port of Entry just off northbound I-15. Officers arrived to find a man "acting erratically and brandishing a weapon," according to police.
Following a standoff that lasted about an hour, Raymond Derek Gladman, 83, of Sedona, Arizona, was shot and killed by police. The Washington County Critical Incident Task Force is reviewing the incident to determine whether the officer was legally justified in using deadly force.
A recently unsealed search warrant affidavit filed in 5th District Court offers more details about what happened that day.
According to the warrant, police were originally dispatched to conduct a welfare check on the driver of a Prius that was going "up and down the on-ramp to the I-15 northbound Port of Entry in St George," the warrant states. "The male was reported to be making statements that he was attempting to go to Seattle, but he would not provide his name because he did not trust anyone."
When police arrived, Gladman was parked in the employee section of the Port of Entry. Officers reported observing a gun in his hand.
"At times the male was pointing the barrel of the weapon toward his own head. Officers set up containment around the Port of Entry and attempted to negotiate with the male," according to the warrant.
At one point, police say Gladman placed his gun on the dashboard of his car and then picked it back up as he opened the driver's side door.
"The male started to get out of the vehicle with the weapon in his hand. A St. George police officer observed the male to be pointing the weapon toward other officers. In response the officer fired his weapon at the male, striking him," the affidavit states.
Gladman was pronounced dead on scene. Investigators later searched his vehicle and found a handgun and 9mm rounds of ammunition, the return for the warrant states.
Correction: An earlier version said a Sionic SAR-16 rifle with magazines of .223 rounds was also seized from the vehicle. The Washington County Attorney's Office confirmed those items actually belonged to one of the officers on scene and were mistakenly included in the return to the search warrant.
