Police identify man shot, killed by officers in Herriman standoff

HERRIMAN — Police have identified a man who officers shot and killed in Herriman late Sunday when he "opened fire" on officers while they started evacuating nearby residents.

Alma Worthington, 38, an active member of the Utah Army National Guard, died after a several-hour standoff at his home, Herriman police said on Monday.

Early Sunday evening, the Herriman Police Department sent out an emergency alert ordering residents to shelter in place in the area of Herriman Town Centre after shots were fired from inside a home in the area of 13000 S. River Rose Lane (5100 West). After several hours of negotiation, with Worthington inside his home, police say he started shooting at officers.

About 9:15 p.m., SWAT officers were trying to evacuate residents directly adjacent to the home to safety, using an armored vehicle, when Worthington "broke windows out of his residence and opened fire on those tactical units multiple times during the course of their evacuations," said Herriman Deputy Police Chief Cody Stromberg.

Police had not entered the man's home, according to the deputy chief.

He said the officers showed "an amazing amount of restraint, but at some point the threat developed to where they felt they needed to take action. Our tactical units returned fire on the subject, and he is deceased at this time."

Police said no one else was injured in the gunfire.

"Without a doubt, the armored vehicles saved the lives of police officers during this incident, and we are fortunate that none of the subject's rounds caused injury to innocent bystanders. We are proud of our officers who placed themselves in harm's way to protect others," Herriman police said on Monday.

Stromberg said the man originally called police at about 3:45 p.m. saying he was experiencing thoughts of suicide. Officers tried to negotiate with him and talk him through the mental health crisis, Stromberg said.

Herriman police said in a statement Monday that Worthington had "threatened to shoot anyone who came to his residence."

Throughout the negotiation with SWAT members, police said he "made it very clear to us throughout the afternoon and evening that he was going to force officers to end his life."

"Unfortunately, those negotiations sort of deteriorated, and he's reached the point where he actually fired rounds from a rifle out of his residence and into the neighborhood surrounding, which obviously elevates our response to that type of an incident," the deputy chief said while the standoff was ongoing on Sunday.

The man had not made verbal threats against anyone other than himself, according to Stromberg, but he continued to fire shots "randomly" inside his home while police and SWAT members negotiated with him.

Stromberg described the man Sunday as a combat veteran who was possibly suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. During the negotiation, family members and members of the man's National Guard unit were speaking to him on the phone and trying to help, according to police.

"This is not the outcome that we want. We try to be as patient as we can," Stromberg said after the standoff ended in the man's death.

He said police try to provide people during SWAT standoffs with options "so they don't feel like they're backed into the corner."

"We also have an obligation to protect the safety of the residents in the surrounding area, as well as the safety of our officers," he said.

The officer-involved critical incident protocol has been initiated, and Unified police detectives will take over the investigation. The officers involved in the incident were placed on leave while the investigation continues.

"PTSD is real and its impact is felt by many. Our thoughts are with the Worthington family. They will bear the effects of this tragedy for many years to come, as will our officers who were forced into a no-win situation, and the residents of the surrounding neighborhood," police said on Monday.

The alert ordering residents nearby to shelter in place earlier Sunday went out to people in several communities, including some in the cities of Riverton, West Valley City, Murray and north Lehi, according to some residents, even though it only applied to the Herriman Towne Center neighborhood.

"Utah Valley Dispatch believes that the phones receiving the messages are possibly connecting to a tower that is in Salt Lake County," Lehi police said in a statement.

Related topics