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AMERICAN FORK — American Fork police confirmed last week that two men were in a car involved in a police shooting at a Walmart parking lot and were also the subject of an Amber Alert.
Now, police have confirmed that both men in the vehicle were shot by a Utah County sheriff's deputy.
On Aug. 9, American Fork police and Utah County sheriff's deputies responded to Walmart, 949 Grassland Drive, about 8:50 p.m. on a report of shoplifting. When officers arrived, they spotted Danny Earl Sihalath, 29, in the parking lot.
Sihalath ignored police commands to stop and instead ran into the passenger seat of a car being driven by a woman he knew and told her to "go," according to a police booking affidavit.
The woman got out of the car and police say Sihalath moved into the driver's seat, put the vehicle in reverse, and hit the woman's legs while backing out of the stall, knocking her over. The woman suffered minor injuries.
While getting out of the parking stall, Sihalath also allegedly nearly hit a couple of police officers. A Utah County sheriff's deputy, who saw the woman get knocked down, "fired five rounds into the driver's seat of the vehicle as it drove forward, attempting to stop the imminent threat the vehicle was causing to the lives of officers and the female," according to a search warrant affidavit.
Originally, it was believed that Sihalath was the only person injured in the shooting.
However, a recently unsealed search warrant affidavit notes, "It has since been discovered that (the deputy) struck both Sihalath and a passenger in the back seat, Robert Rivas. Rivas had an outstanding arrest warrant, and was a federal fugitive."
Officers who were positioned on the other side of the car could see that a child was in the back seat as well as a second man.
As Sihalath sped out of the parking lot, he hit a parked vehicle, knocking off the front bumper. Police chased the car until it was determined to be unsafe to the public.
An Amber Alert was issued for the boy, who is the woman's son, according to police. The toddler was later found safe at a relative's house.
Two days after the shooting, Sihalath checked himself into a hospital in Salt Lake County, the warrant states.
"He had gunshot wounds to both arms," according to the warrant.
After he was arrested, Sihalath told detectives "he had been using illegal drugs during the incident, and the injuries were very painful, but he had stayed away from the hospitals for fear of being apprehended."
After Rivas, 34, was arrested, he was also taken to a hospital in Utah County to be treated for a gunshot wound to the leg, another warrant states. It also states that he told detectives "he was shot at the Walmart incident."
The police shooting remained under investigation Wednesday.
