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MURRAY — The actions of two Murray police officers involved in a shootout that left one man dead and an officer injured were legally justified, the district attorney has concluded.
Officers Brandon Hoyne and Jarom Allred were legally justified in using deadly force against 33-year-old Willie T. Salazar, Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said Thursday. But he also noted that his decision was complicated by the fact that the injured officer fired a second round of shots at the gunman after Salazar was already on the ground and did not appear to have a gun in his hand.
On June 22, 2021, police were called to the Villas at Vine Apartments, 811 E. Vine Street, on a report of domestic violence between Salazar and his mother. The mother told emergency dispatchers that "she believed her son was going to kill her," according to Murray police. When officers arrived, the mother reiterated that her son "was trying to kill her and that he had a gun," according to Gill's report.
As the officers were talking to the mother, Salazar appeared from a back doorway. The officers told Salazar to come talk with them.
"I don't want to talk," Salazar is heard saying on police body camera video.
"You don't get a choice, come talk to me. Keep your hands where I can see 'em," Hoyne responds.
As Salazar continues to back away from the officers, Allred is heard saying, "Keep your hands where I can see 'em."
"As officer Hoyne approached Mr. Salazar, Mr. Salazar produced a handgun and fired at officer Hoyne, hitting him in the left upper leg," according to the report. "Officer Hoyne simultaneously fired his weapon at Mr. Salazar and then retreated into the back lawn area and exclaimed he was hit."
Allred then went to the doorway and fired two shots. Despite being shot, Hoyne returns to the doorway to help his partner and to reengage with Salazar, the report states.
"As officer Hoyne approaches the doorway and turns the corner so he can see into the hallway, he can be heard yelling, 'Shoot, shoot him again!' and officer Allred simultaneously yelling, 'Show me your hands,'" according to the report.
Just as Allred ordered Salazar to show his hands, body camera video shows that "Mr. Salazar rolled onto his right side and raised his right arm, showing an empty and open right hand, as officer Hoyne simultaneously fired another three shots at Mr. Salazar."
After the three ethos were fired, Allred yells at his partner, "Don't fire anymore."
Hoyne fired a total of seven shots and Allred fired two, according to the report. The state medical examiner determined Salazar was possibly shot five times. Salazar was pronounced dead at the scene. Hoyne was taken to a local hospital to be treated for his injury and was released the same day.
Both Murray police officers declined to be interviewed by the protocol team investigating the shooting. According to a sergeant who arrived on scene after the shooting, he said Allred told him, "The suspect engaged us and shots were fired. Hoyne fired. The guy went down and then I went over, and the guy sat up and reengaged us, and I shot him."
While Gill determined that the officers' actions were legally justified, he also notes that "officer Hoyne's second volley of three shots is more complicated. On the one hand, we have the body-worn camera recordings which appear to show Mr. Salazar lying in the hallway and turn his torso, raise an arm, and show an empty hand. ... However, we don't know that officer Hoyne didn't perceive Mr. Salazar's motion as movement consistent with Mr. Salazar firing his gun again at officers as he had just done.
"We don't know what officer Hoyne saw and believed, and there is not enough information on which to base reasonable inferences as to whether officer Hoyne saw something he interpreted as a threat — or whether officer Hoyne did not perceive a threat — when he fired his second volley of shots," the report states.
Gill says based on the totality of the situation, the evidence implies that Hoyne believed Salazar still had a gun when he engaged with him the second time, and "it was not unreasonable to believe Mr. Salazar might shoot him again."
"In other words, even though one interpretation of the video recording is that it appears to show Mr. Salazar complying with officer Allred's commands prior to officer Hoyne's second volley, we can reasonably infer that officer Hoyne made his decision to fire the second volley when Mr. Salazar moved his torso, and before Mr. Salazar's open hand appeared. And we don't know whether officer Hoyne saw Mr. Salazar's open hand, particularly as he made his decision to use deadly force, and whether he ever saw it at all," the report concludes.
