Estimated read time: 6-7 minutes
- A Sandy police officer was justified in shooting and killing a suicidal man, the district attorney announced Friday.
- Officer Slack shot at Dylan Murphy six times in three separate volleys on March 26, 2023.
- Murphy kept getting up and advancing on the officer.
SANDY — A Sandy police officer was legally justified in shooting and killing a suicidal man more than two years ago, the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office announced Friday.
But District Attorney Sim Gill admits reaching that decision wasn't easy, as his office had to weigh officer safety versus a suicidal man having a mental health crisis.
"This was an absolute tragic event that happened. The context of this, we went back and forth," Gill said Friday while adding that it's confrontations like this that "continue to remind us how much more work we need to do collectively when it comes to mental health issues, and these are always just tragic losses. There's no winners here."
About 1 a.m. on March 26, 2023, the family of 33-year-old Dylan William Murphy called 911 to report Murphy had attempted suicide earlier that evening by cutting his wrists and forearms and refused to get medical attention.
Police were called to the area of 11650 S. Eagle Bend Road (1020 East) after Murphy, who had been bleeding for an estimated 20 to 30 minutes by that point, left his house, and his family wanted help finding him, according to Gill's final report of the incident.
Sandy police officer Erik Slack, who was already in the area, quickly spotted Murphy walking near 11640 South and 1000 East and followed him in his patrol car. In body camera videos, Slack asks for backup and tells dispatchers he can't see Murphy's right hand. Another officer is heard on the police radio asking for anyone who has less-lethal options in their vehicle and can respond.
"He's got his right hand in his jacket, I can't see anything. He's just keeping it really tight," he tells dispatchers.
"Officer Slack slowed down and shined his patrol vehicle's lights on Mr. Murphy from behind. Mr. Murphy continued walking away and then ran southeast across 1000 East; as he did so, officer Slack called out to him, using his name, but Mr. Murphy did not stop and continued walking southbound on the east side of 1000 East," the report states.
Murphy then suddenly turned around and walked toward Slack's patrol car. At that point, the officer got out of his vehicle and ordered Murphy several times to show his hands.
"Dylan! Let me see your hands! Hands!" the officer yells.
Instead, Murphy begins to run at the officer, who tries to take cover behind his patrol car while drawing his gun.
Murphy covered about 35 feet in just 2 seconds, according to Sandy police. Both body camera and dashboard camera videos show Murphy got within 2 to 3 feet of the officer before the officer fired three rounds.
After the first round of shots, Slack, who fell down himself and had to get back up, continued to order Murphy to show him his hands. Instead, Murphy got off the ground "and again charged toward him, growling, with his right arm and hand still inside the coat sleeve, his coat hanging off his right side, and his left hand and wrist appearing to be wrapped in clothing," according to Gill's report.
The officer fired two more times, and Murphy again fell to the ground. Slack tells Murphy to stay on the ground or "I will shoot." But Murphy eventually pushes himself up in the video, going first to kneeling and then standing and walking toward the officer again.
In the body camera video, Murphy's hands appeared to be visibly empty at this point. But as he walked toward the officer, "his hands were balled into fists, he appeared to flex them in front of him, and his teeth appeared clenched. Mr. Murphy continued to advance, taking nine steps toward officer Slack, and officer Slack fired his weapon one more time," the report states.
Gill says a total of six rounds were fired "in three separate volleys" over the course of 1 minute and 16 seconds. From the time Slack first attempted to make contact with Murphy to when Murphy turned toward the officer, it was 1 minute and 40 seconds. Just seven seconds elapsed from when Slack exited his vehicle and ordered Murphy to show his hands.
The investigation also determined that the time between the second volley of shots and the third and final shot was over a minute — something Gill called "significant."
"In contrast to the first two volleys, Mr. Murphy had nothing in his hands, appeared physically compromised from being hit, and arguably less physically capable of causing harm, and was not advancing with the same speed and intensity. Accordingly, we find that the same urgency as existed before was simply not present for the final decision to shoot," the report states. "Nonetheless, despite the differences in the threat presented, we do not believe the evidence is sufficient to prove that Mr. Murphy did not pose an immediate threat to the safety of officer Slack."
Gill says it was the final shot that created the most debate in his office. But even though Murphy was already injured and did not appear to be carrying a weapon, he said the three separate volleys of shots had to be looked at as one continuous event.
"It is not unreasonable that (Slack) should be afraid. He's been charged at twice, he's by himself, he's fallen down, and he's telling him, 'Stop. Stay where you are. I will shoot,'" Gill said. "We couldn't avoid the fact that (Murphy's) intent was to get at the officer.
"The issue was he had an imminent threat still coming at him, and he's himself fallen down, and he does not have a duty to retreat. We discussed that: How much can he retreat? The other thing was, he didn't shoot him when he was getting up. He didn't shoot him when he took his first step," Gill continued while noting that the officer waited until Murphy was nearly on top of him before he fired.
The investigation also revealed that the batteries had died on Slack's portable police radio on his uniform, so backup officers didn't get the call of "shots fired" until Slack was able to get back to his patrol and put out the call for backup.
Slack declined to be interviewed for the investigation, and Gill says no other witnesses to the shooting or surveillance video could be found.
An autopsy determined Murphy was shot four times. He also had cutting injuries on his arms, and toxicology tests showed the likely presence of heroin, the report states.
Gill met with family members of Murphy prior to holding a press conference on Friday announcing his decision. He said while the family understands why the officer took the action he did and the shooting was determined to be legally justified, they are frustrated by the fact that they couldn't get the help their loved one needed.
"We spent a lot of time talking about the failure of the system when it comes to folks who suffer from mental health issues," Gill said of his conversation, while adding that Murphy was "clearly suffering."
"It's that mixture of mental health issues, getting access, not having access, dealing with someone who was intent on committing suicide that evening. And I don't like to use this word very often, but there's the term 'suicide by cop' … and that was (Murphy's) intent that night. His intent was to commit suicide, and he went at the officer with that purpose in mind."
