- Six police officers were found to be legally justified in shooting and killing a 17-year-old boy in South Jordan.
- The boy, identified only as C.H., fired one shot at officers on Jan. 3, 2025.
- District Attorney Sim Gill called a third round of police shots "disturbing and troubling" but found no criminal violations.
SOUTH JORDAN — Six police officers were legally justified in shooting and killing a 17-year-old boy who exchanged shots with police, the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office announced Friday.
On Jan. 3, 2025, a 17-year-old boy — who police and District Attorney Sim Gill would only identify by his initials C.H. — was shot and killed following an incident that involved police officers from several Salt Lake County agencies and, ultimately, what the Salt Lake County district attorney determined were three separate shooting incidents.
South Jordan police were originally called to investigate a possible car burglary near 9400 South and 4600 West about 10:20 p.m. About 30 minutes after officers began searching the area, they spotted a male inside the back of a car parked in a driveway near 9500 South and 5400 West.
"You in the vehicle, show me your hands," an officer yells at the teen after drawing his gun, according to body camera video shown Friday during a press conference held by District Attorney Sim Gill to announce the findings of his investigation. The officer and a K-9 police officer also order the boy to "quit reaching" as he appeared to try to grab something on him.
Instead of surrendering, the boy ran from the vehicle and scaled a fence into a neighbor's yard. In body camera video, just as an officer reaches the fence to chase him, C.H. fires a shot.
"As K-9 Oli went after him and the officers began pursuing, the suspect fired a handgun," Gill's report states. South Jordan police officers Aaron Bass and Jesse Hooper returned fire, but then lost sight of the boy.
Backup officers and the Utah Department of Public Safety helicopter were called to assist in the search. Officers in the helicopter spotted the teen behind a shed at 9490 Loch Awe Drive. Officers from the cover of a neighbor's home began yelling at the boy from the back door to drop his gun and surrender, the report states.
"At the southwest corner of the residence, the suspect raised a handgun toward the officers, and West Jordan Police Sgt. (Brett) McMullin and Murray police officer (Benjamin) Gregoire fired their weapons. The suspect fell to the ground, dropping the handgun," according to the report.
As that was happening, additional officers had moved into position on the opposite end of where the first group of officers were located. They saw the teen running and heard the shots, prompting Herriman police officer Natalie Chinea to fire one round from her rifle, the report states.
"While we know that officer Chinea's round did not hit the suspect — and that she instead created a danger of crossfire to the other officers — we do not believe the facts are sufficient to prove that she was not shooting at the suspect, especially from her position approximately 179 feet away," the report states, noting Chinea's shot hit the roof of a house. "We do not believe we have sufficient evidence to refute or overcome the legal defense of justification in this case."
Chinea and other officers had entered a backyard when the shots were heard. They entered the yard taking cover behind a ballistic shield. But when the shots were fired, she stepped out from behind the shield to fire while other officers dropped to the ground to take cover.
That movement prompted a sixth officer, South Salt Lake police officer Christian Medel — who had not yet entered the yard — to fire four times through a vinyl fence, even though he could not see C.H., who was already down. Gill said Friday the biggest question for investigators looking into Medel's decision to shoot was, "What is he firing at?"
Gill said Medel agreed to be interviewed as part of the shooting investigation. He told investigators that when the other officers took cover by dropping to the ground, he thought they had been shot.
"I heard numerous shots being fired. I believe I saw the officer with the ballistic shield fall to my left and saw another officer fall to my right," he said. "I believed these officers had been shot and feared they had been critically injured or killed. I heard rounds skipping nearby and could hear the whizzing and cracking of rounds passing over and near me.
"I raised my patrol rifle in the direction shots were being fired, and I saw what I perceived to be a dark figure as shots were being fired, and I believed this figure to be what was shooting at me and my fellow officers. I believed this figure had just shot the two officers ahead of me, and I believed that if I didn't return fire, I would be killed next. I fired at the dark figure and soon realized the figure was no longer there and stopped firing," he continued. "I now believe the figure I saw was a shadow caused by (the helicopter's) flood light."
The shots Medel could hear "whizzing" over him were likely from the other police officers across from him, Gill said. It was later determined the 17-year-old's gun jammed after he fired his first shot, and he did not shoot again.
Although Gill said Friday that he found the third round of shots "to be disturbing and troubling for a whole host of reasons," his job is only to look whether criminal violations were committed, and he says there were none.
"From the evidence obtained during the protocol investigation, it appears that officer Medel was mistaken in his beliefs. However, officer Medel's mistaken beliefs appear consistent with, or at least supported in part by, some of the factual evidence in this case," the report states. "While the evidence appears to show that officer Medel was mistaken in his beliefs — especially that a 'figure' was shooting at him and his fellow officers — we do not believe the evidence is sufficient to overcome our burden and prove that his mistaken beliefs were unreasonable."
Bass, Hooper, McMullin, Gregoire, Chinea and Medel were all found to be legally justified in using deadly force. A total of 28 rounds were fired by police. C.H. was shot four times.
Before Friday's press conference began, Gill said he met with the boy's parents who wanted to convey that they hold no ill will toward the police officers. Gill also noted that the gun the teen had was stolen from a vehicle the day before and said the incident was another reminder for gun owners to properly store their weapons.
