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ENOCH, Iron County — An Iron County sheriff's deputy and an Enoch police officer were legally justified in shooting an armed suicidal woman after she pointed a gun at the officers, the Iron County Attorney's Office has determined.
In a letter dated March 10, Enoch police officer Devin Kwiatkowski and Iron County sheriff's deputy Ryan Turk were found to be justified in shooting Shawna Owens, 37, of Cedar City, on Jan. 29. Owens survived and was later charged in connection with the incident.
On that date, Owens, who police learned had made suicidal comments to her roommate, fired a round through their front bedroom window, according to officers. She then left her home and was later found parked in a van in a random driveway in Enoch near 4680 North and 4500 West. Police were called after the homeowner's 19-year-old son spotted Owens and she pointed a gun at him, according to charging documents.
As police arrived at the scene and set up, they saw Owens holding a gun "and at different moments waived the gun around or pointed it at her head," according to the final report from Iron County Attorney Chad Dotson.
Using a public address system, officers tried to get Owens to put down her gun, at one point even asking her to "please" put it down, the report states.
Kwiatkowski told investigators that Owens "went back over and was kinda flopping the gun around again. ... She started messing with the window again and she rolled the passenger window down and then she just learned over and pointed (the gun) and that's when I started shooting," the report states.
Turk can also be heard on his body camera video saying, "She's pointing at Devin, pointing gun at us … she's pointing (the) gun at Devin," according to the report.
"I called it out, 'Hey, she's pointing the gun at Devin,'" Turk later told those investigating the shooting. "Then she rolled the window down, the passenger window, and then stuck the pistol through the window area."
Both Turk and Kwiatkowski fired and Owens was struck multiple times. She was treated at the scene before being flown to St. George Regional Hospital.
Owen was later charged in 5th District Court with two counts of assault on a police officer, a second-degree felony; aggravated assault and three counts of illegal discharge of a firearm, third-degree felonies; DUI, a class A misdemeanor; plus carrying a weapon while under the influence and being an alcohol restricted driver, class B misdemeanors. A preliminary hearing is scheduled to begin this week.
"During a preliminary investigation of the incident, evidence was found that Owens had fired two rounds from a .22 caliber pistol in the direction of the involved officers," charging documents state.
Dotson's report does not mention whether Owens shot at police. It notes, however, that after she was injured and officers searched her minivan, they "found the suspect's .22 caliber handgun with a round jammed in the slide, as well as empty shell casings from rounds that were fired."
